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THE ART OF ETCHING 


The New Art Library 


‘The admirable New Art Library.”—Connoisseur. 
New VOLUMES. 


The Art of Etching. 


By E. S. Lumspen. With about 200 Illustrations. 
21S. nett. 
Also EpiTIoNn DE LUXE, with four original etchings by 
the author, Limited to 150 copies, 
Price 6 guineas nett, 
Landscape Painting. 
By ADRIAN STOKES, R.A. Lavishly Illustrated. 
I5s. nett. 
RECENTLY IsSUED. 
Perspective. 
As applied to pictures witha section dealing with 
architecture. 472 Illustrations, 18s. nett. By 
Rex Vicar COLE. 
‘* Makes perspective quite fascinating.” 
Aberdeen Journal. 
‘‘An indispensable book to the student of art.” 
Daily Graphic. 
Water Colour Painting. 
By ALFRED W. RicuH. €0 Illustrations. 10s. 6d. 
nett, 
‘‘Mr. Rich’s work has placed him among the 
comparatively few water-colourists of to-day who 
count, and the work of his students proves that 
he can teach.”—Saturday Review. 


The Artistic Anatomy of Trees. 
By Rex Vicat Cote. Over 500 Illustrations, 
15s. nett, 
‘* Like all the volumes of the New Art Library, 
thorough in its teaching, eminently practical in 
its manner of presenting it, and spendidly illus- 
trated.”—Connoisseur. 


The Practice and Science of Drawing. 
By HaRo_Lp SpkExEp. 46 Illustrations. 10s. 6d. 
nett. 
‘No work on Art has been published in recent 
ears which might be more advantageously placed 
in the hands of a young student. Every page 
shows robust common sense expressed in a clear 
style. ... We imagine that Mr. Speed is an 
admirable teacher, and cordially recommend his 
treatise.”"—Athenceum. 


The Practice of Oil Painting and Drawing. 
S. J. SoLomon, R.A. 80 Illustrations. 10s. 6d, 


nett. 
‘If students were to follow his instructions, and 
still more, to heed his warnings, their painting 
would soon show a great increase in efficiency.” 
Manchester Guardian. 

Human Anatomy for Art Students. 
By Sir Atrrep Downinc Fripp, k.C.Vv.0. 
159 Illustrations. rss. nett. 
‘*Combines the best scientific and artistic infor- 
mation.""—Connoisseur. 

Modelling and Sculpture. 

By AvBeRT ToFT, A.R.C.A., M.S.B.S, With 119 
Illustrations. 15s. nett. 
‘* Will be found an invaluable aid to the student. 
... Takes the student step by step through the 
various technical processes, the text being sup- 
plemented by over a hundred excellent illustra- 
tions.” —Studio. 


Sexxy, Servick & Co, Lrp. 196 Shaftesbury Av 


Digitized by the Internet Archive 
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MEDITATION. TuE AUTHOR. 
For A DESCRIPTION OF THE METHOD EMPLOYED SEE PAGE 367. 


THE» 
ART OF ETCHING 


A COMPLETE & FULLY ILLUSTRATED DESCRIPTION OF 
ETCHING, DRYPOINT, SOFT-GROUND ETCHING 
AQUATINT & THEIR ALLIED ARTS, TOGETHER 
WITH TECHNICAL NOTES UPON THEIR 
OWN WORK BY MANY OF THE 
LEADING ETCHERS OF THE 
PRESENT TIME 


BY 


KE. S. LUMSDEN 


Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy 


WITH 208 ILLUSTRATIONS 


PHILADELPHIA 
jbl PEPENe Or CO Min A NY? 


PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN 


TO 
MY MOTHER 


a 


FOREWORD 


WHEN, only a few months ago, I was asked whether I would contribute to 
this series a book upon Etching, I hardly treated the suggestion as practical. 
In the first place it seemed to me that everything there was to say upon the 
subject had already been said, and, in the second, the time which would 
necessarily be devoted to such a task appeared, in prospect, too great a 
sacrifice for one whose livelihood depends upon the practice of the craft. 

But, in the endeavour to set my ideas upon the matter in some sort of 
order, I soon became so intensely interested in finding out what I really 
did believe, both concerning the art and its exponents, that I could think 
of nothing else and, for good orill, the book had to be written. The digging 
up of the older authors upon the purely technical side, in order to discover 
the actual origin of many formule and recipes still in use, has also been 
extremely fascinating and the result should, I think, be of value—at least 
of interest—to the student. 

I have many to thank for help. First Mr. E. L. Allhusen for his in- 
valuable suggestions in the writing of the MS.; the loan of many books 
and catalogues, and, above all, for his generous encouragement. Amongst 
the officials of Public Museums I am indebted to Mr. Caw of the Scottish 
National Gallery for allowing me to search the folios not open to the 
public and to photograph the etching by Runciman; Mr. Campbell 
Dodgson, Keeper of the Prints at the British Museum, for the loan of several 
etchings from his private collection and for permission to reproduce many 
from the Museum itself; Mr. Martin Hardie for similar courtesy regarding 
prints in the Victoria and Albert Museum and for some important sug- 
gestions ; and to Mr. Binyon, Mr. A. M. Hind and their Assistants for the 
ungrudging help during the weeks I worked in the British Museum Print 
Room, when Mr. Hind made me free of his notes upon various problems the 
solution of which is dubious, was always ready to discuss a technical point 
and to give me the benefit of his advice. 

My most grateful thanks are also due to Dr. Alexander Scott, F.R.S., for 
being so kind as to revise my chapter dealing with his methods of research 
and for great assistance upon other problems of chemistry. 

Amongst private collectors I wish to thank Mr. R. K. Blair, Mr. E. R. 
Boase, Mr. E. L. Allhusen and Dr. J. D. Pollock for lending their prints 
for reproduction, and Mrs. Strang, Mme Zorn and Mr. L. L. Legros for 
permission to include examples of the work of the late William Strang, 
Anders Zorn and Alphonse Legros respectively. 

I deeply appreciate the courtesy of those artists who have not only given 


8 


FOREWORD 9 


me permission to use their work, but have greatly added to the value of 
the book for the student of the future by giving their personal technical 
notes. 

Only two artists ignored my request and one refused to permit any 
reproduction, and these omissions I regret. 

I have also to thank Messrs. Lefévre and the Leicester Galleries, and the 
Fine Art Society for allowing me to reproduce plates by Messrs. Blampied 
and Strang respectively. A word also as to the selection of my own etchings. 
In every case my motive has been to find a plate which best illustrated 
the technical point in hand. To do this meant ruling out most of those 
which I consider my best, because I either cannot remember how they 
were done or their procedure was complicated by mixed methods which 


rendered them useless for the purpose. 
EK. §8. LUMSDEN. 
EDINBURGH, 
August, 1924. 


CHAPTER 


If. 
ITI. 
Lv. 


VI. 
VII. 


VIII. 
IX. 


XI. 
XII. 
XTII. 


XIV. 
XV. 


XVI. 
XVII. 
AVITI. 


XIX. 
XX. 
XXI. 
XXII. 
XXITI. 
XXIV. 
XXV. 
XXVI. 


XXVII. 


LIST OF CONTENTS 


PART I 


INTRODUCTORY . 

ESSENTIALS 

THE PLATE 4 , s : 
GROUNDS AND ‘ Cents ” THE PLATE . 
Points, SCRAPERS, BURNISHERS AND GRAVERS 
MorpDANTS 

List oF MATERIALS AND siete? 


PART II 


PLAN OF AN ETCHING Room 

METHODS OF BITING . 

PRINTING . 5 : ; ; : 
ADDITIONAL Wrath AND THEIR REMEDY 
TRANSFERRING 

Sort GRounpD, AQUATINT, AND THE itis Matnee 
DRYPOINT AND MEZZOTINT . 

PRINTING PAPERS . 

FLATTENING AND MOUNTING 

MILDEW AND RESTORING ; , : 
THE MrEpIumM IN RELATION TO THE ARTIST’S IDEA 


PART III 


A Brier SURVEY OF ETCHERS UP TO THE YEAR 1800. 
DURER AND LUCAS VAN LEYDEN 

REMBRANDT AND VAN Dyck 

GOYA : ; ? 
BRITISH Bras OF THE Sieetraosen CENTURY 
MERYON AND THE FRENCH REVIVAL 

HADEN AND WHISTLER 

THE MODERNS 


PART IV 


PERSONAL NoTes BY EMINENT ETCHERS ON THEIR 
METHODS 


INDEX * A : ‘ : : , ; , 
10 


PAGE 


17 
23 
26 
35 
45 
50 
59 


63 
66 
85 
99 
109 
113 
127 
137 
147 
156 
161 


165 
201 
208 
242 
255 
272 
288 
308 


325 
368 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


MepitTation. E.8S. Lumsden . 5 ; : Frontispiece 
PLATE PAGE 
1. ComparRATIVE Morpants. E. 8. Lumsden : : . 68 

2. THe Horsgs. peel cataat ep rene Bitten in the a) 
E.S. Lumsden . 71 

3. JODHPUR FROM THE DESERT. Single Deane from Nee) 
E. 8. Lumsden . : ; : : nt 

4. THe Surine. (Drawing by Stages. First State. E. 8. 
Lumsden . é : 3 . 74 

5. THE SHRINE. (Drawing by Stages. Intermediate State. 
E. 8. Lumsden . ‘ : ; és ee 

6. THE SHRINE. aes By Stages. Final State. E. S. 
Lumsden . cu! 

7. A Nove or Ronpa. (Alternate Drawing and Biting ) E. g. 
Lumsden . : ; 79 

8. ON AN INDIAN RIVER. (Drawing, in the Bath, E. g. 
Lumsden : : 81 

9. ETCHING ILLUSTRATING SINGLE BITING. (ron perchloride.) 
E. 8S. Lumsden . : ; 83 

10. THe ALCANTARA BRIDGE. (Mistakes and their Remedy.) 
E. 8. Lumsden . : 100 

11. THe ALCANTARA BRIDGE. (Mistakes and their Remedy.) 
E.S. Lumsden . : 101 

12. THe ALCANTARA BRIDGE. Mistakes and their Remedy.) 
E. 8. Lumsden . : 102 

13. THe ALCANTARA BRIDGE (Mistakes af their Remedy.) 
E.8. Lumsden . : 103 
14. THE ALCANTARA BRIDGE. (Final State. ) E.S. iawnaes . 104 
15. NEGATIVE Etcuine. E. 8. Lumsden . : : ey 
16. A CuHortTEeN. (Soft-ground Etching.) E. 8. Lumsden PaeLLD 
17. Sort-GRouND EtcHine. (Re-working.) E. 8S. Lumsden RY 

18. A KasHmir BripGE—NOCTURNE. Coe ren eel 
E. 8. Lumsden . : 121 

19. A KasHmirR CANAL. eon sound Aquatint BE. s. 
Lumsden ; : , ee 25) 


it 


12 

PLATE 
20. 
21. 
22. 


23. 
24. 
25. 
26. 
rigs 
28. 
29. 
30. 
31. 
32. 
33. 
34, 
35. 
36. 
37. 
38. 
39. 
40. 
41. 
42. 
43. 
44, 
45. 
46. 
47. 
48. 


48A. 


49, 
50. 
51. 
52. 
52. 
53. 
54, 
55. 
56. 
57. 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


ETCHING ILLUSTRATING THE PEN-METHOD. E. 8. Lumsden . 

THE READER. (Drypoint direct from Life.) E. 8. Lumsden 

THE CENOTAPH. (Drypoint and Roughened Surface). E.S. 
Lumsden . - : : : , : 

A SPANISH Cart. (Drypoint.) E.S. Lumsden . 

ORIENTAL HorsEeMAN. The Master of the Hausbuch 

KONRAD VON DER Rosen. Daniel Hopfer 

WomAN BATHING HER FEET. Urs Graf 

CLEOPATRA. The Master of 1515 

LANDSCAPE WITH LARCHES. Altdorfer 

LANDSCAPES. Hirschvogel 

THE ANNUNCIATION. Parmigiano 

A Becear. Callot . , : : : 

‘‘Les MISERES DE LA GUERRE,”’ No. 4. Callot 

CATTLE RETURNING IN STORMY WEATHER. Claude 

Brey Duren. Hollar 

THE Doctor. Bega ; : 

CATTLE AND HERD-BOY. du Jardin , ; 

SHEEP AND SHEPHERD PLAYING A PIPE. Paul Potter 

THE LouUvRE, PARIS. Zeeman 

SEA-SCAPE WITH MEN-0O’-WaAR. Zeeman 

TRAVELLERS ReEstTine. A. van de Velde 

Lorp Lovat. Hogarth : 

ONE OF THE CARCERI SERIES. Piranesi 

THE FLIGHT INTO Eeypr. G. D. Tiepolo 

NETHER-Bow Port, EpinpurGH. J. Runciman 

DuRHAM. Clerk of Eldin . 2 

BortTHWICK CASTLE. Clerk of Eldin . 

Hitut-HEAD, NEAR LASSWADE. Clerk of Eldin 

DALKEITH FROM THE NortH-WEsT. Clerk of Eldin 

DRIVEN CATTLE IN WOODED PASTURE. Gainsborough 

SAINT JEROME. Diirer A : 

THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN. Diirer 

SAINT CATHERINE. Lucas van Leyden 

THE ArRtTIsT’s MotHER. Rembrandt 

OLD MAN wiTtH A BEARD. Rembrandt 

SELF PORTRAIT AND OTHER Notes. Rembrandt 

THE RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL Son. Rembrandt 

THREE HEADS OF WOMEN, ONE ASLEEP. Rembrandt 

THE DEATH OF THE VIRGIN. Rembrandt 

MAN witH A DivipED Carp. Rembrandt . 


PAGE 
125 
129 


130 
131 
166 
167 
169 
170 
171 
173 
174 
175 
177 
178 
180 
181 
182 
183 
184 
185 
187 
189 
190 
191 
193 
194 
195 
198 
199 
200 
203 
204 
206 
209 
209 
210 
211 
212 
214 
215 


PLATE 


58. 
59. 
60. 
61. 
62. 
63. 
64. 
65. 
66. 
67. 
68. 
69. 
70. 
ml 
104 
73. 
74. 
75. 
ae 
tore 
TS: 
no. 
80. 
ooh 
82. 
83. 
84. 
85. 
86. 
87. 
88. 
89. 
90. 
91. 
92. 
93. 
94. 
95. 
96. 
97. 
98. 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


AMSTERDAM. Rembrandt : 

CoTTAGE AND HAYBARN. Rembrandt 

YounGc Man at A Desk. Rembrandt 

THE Hoc. Rembrandt ; : 
CHRIST CARRIED TO THE Toms. Rembrandt 
JAN Six. Rembrandt 

SELF PORTRAIT AT A WINDOW. eearabcanlh 
Braaars. Rembrandt : 

CHRIST HEALING THE Sick. Rembrandt 

THE SHELL. Rembrandt : ‘ 

THE GOLDWEIGHERS’ FIELD. Rembrandt. 
CLEMENT DE JONGHE. Rembrandt . : 
THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS. Rembrandt 
THE THREE CROSSES. Rembrandt 

THE DESCENT FROM THE CROSS. Rembrandt 
THE ENTOMBMENT. First State. Rembrandt 
THE ENTOMBMENT. Final State. Rembrandt 
CHRIST AT Emmaus. Rembrandt : 
CHRIST PRESENTED TO THE PEOPLE. Rembrandt 
WoOMAN WITH AN ARROW. Rembrandt 

CHART OF ETCHERS 

JAN SNELLINX. Van Dyck 

GAROTTED. Goya 

LOvE AND DEATH. Goya 

SELF PortTrRAIT. Goya e 

TRISTES PRESENTIMIENTOS. Goya 

Las MuUGERES DAN VALOR. Goya 

AL CEMENTERIO, Goya ; 

DE QUE SIRVE UNA TazA? Goya 

THE DEATH OF THE ALCALDE. Goya 

SCENE IN THE CAMPAGNA. Turner 

CaLm. Turner : 

MovusEHOLD HEATH. Crome 

Stupy oF TREES. Cotman 

THE ArtistT’s MotHer. Geddes 

INFANTA ISABELLA. Geddes 

Dutt READING. Geddes. : 
ARCHIBALD SKIRVING, Esq. Geddes 

THE YounG ANGLER, Dyce 5 - 
AN AGITATED GROUP GAZING INTO Con Blake 
SWEEPING THE INTERPRETER’S PARLOUR. Blake 


13 
PAGE 
216 
217 
219 
220 
221 
222 
223 
224 
226 
227 
228 
229 
230 
231 
233 
234 
235 
236 
237 
238 
239 
241 
243 
244 
245 
247 
248 
250 
251 
253 
256 
257 
258 
260 
261 
262 
264 
265 
267 
268 
269 


14 
PLATE 
99. 
100. 
101. 
102. 
103. 
104. 
105. 
106. 
107. 
108. 
109. 
110. 
hilt 
112. 
112. 
113. 
113. 
114. 
115. 
116. 
117. 
118, 
119. 
120. 
121. 
122. 
123. 
124. 
125. 
126. 
127. 
128. 
129, 
130. 
131. 
132. 


133. 
134. 
135. 
136, 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


GIRL WITH A Book. Keene 

Le Petit Pont. Meryon ‘ : 
L’ARCHE Du Pont Notre Dame. Meryon 
LA GALERIE. Meryon 

La Morevur. Meryon 

L. J-Marie BizeEut. Meryon 

Le Movutin. Jacque : : 
Portrait OF MERYON. Bracquemond 
PortTRAIT OF Datovu. Legros . 

Le LonG DE LA Rive. Legros 


BREAKING-UP OF THE AGAMEMNON. Seymour Haden 


PURFLEET. Seymour Haden 

From CARDIGAN BRIDGE. Seymour Findon 
La MARCHANDE DE MoutarpDE. Whistler 
RECUREUSE. Jacque 

ANNIE, SEATED. Whistler 

Ma PETITE FILLE. Jacque 

LA MERE GERARD. Whistler 

La VIEILLE AUx LoqusEs. Whistler 
LIMEHOUSE. Whistler 

FINNETTE. Whistler 

THE Riatto. Whistler 

TuRKEYS. Whistler 

San GiorGio. Whistler 

SELF PortTrRaIT. Strang . 

PoRTRAIT OF LEGROS. cererre 
StockHotm. Muirhead Bone 

THE ENTRY OF A QUEEN. Bauer 

A SuutTan. Bauer . 

La Finte Mkre. Forain : : 
LE RETOUR DE L’ENFANT PRODIGUE. Forain 
PORTRAIT OF RENAN. Anders Zorn . 
Mecca Pinerims. Bauer 

Herons at Rest. Benson 

SUMMER YELLOW-LEGS. Benson 


DEMOLITION OF ST, JAMES’S Teta maron! Muirhead 


Bone : 
Ayr PRISON. Muriel Bone : 
Finiine Sacks. Clausen . : 
THE CHIMERA OF AMIENS. Cameron 
THERMAE OF CARACALLA. Cameron . 


PAGE 


271 
273 
275 
217 
279 
280 
282 
283 
285 
287 
289 
291 
293 
295 
295 
296 
296 
298 
299 
301 
302 
304 
305 
306 
309 
311 
313 
315 
316 
318 
319 
321 
327 
329 
330 


331 
333 
335 
337 - 
338 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 15 


PLATE PAGE 
137. CuRFEW, Rysg. Short : ; ; : 4 : ~ 341 
138. Té&re FaroucHre. John . : : : : : . 343 
139. CHARLES McEvoy. John : : : : : . 344 
140. Tue Feast or Lazarus. Brangwyn : ’ ; . 3847 
141. THe TORPEDOED Sussex. McBey . : : : . 9349 
142. STRANGE Sienats. McBey ; : ‘ ; 5 . 350 
143. LoapiInG SEAWEED. Blampied : ‘ : : . 351 
144. Tur STRANGER. Blampied : : . : : . 353 
145. DeratH AwepD. Percy Smith . : : : : . 355 
146. DratH Marcues. Percy Smith : : : : . 356 
147. THat CursED Woop. Nevinson : : : : . 357 
148. In SusurRBIA. Nevinson : : : : : . 9359 
149. SpanisH Dancer, No. 2, Laura Knight . : ‘ . 361 
150. Bank Houripay. Laura Knight ‘ : : : . 362 
151. A Grey DAY IN THE CHANNEL. Everett P : . 363 
152. Luynes. Everett . : ; ‘ : ; : . 365 


LIST OF TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS 


FIGURE 


l. Fiuine THE EDGE OF THE PLATE : : : ; : 28 
2. SNAKESTONE . : : 5 : : : : : 30 
3. CHARCOAL PLANING . , A : P ; : : 30 
4, OIL-RUBBER FOR POLISHING : : ? : ; : 32 
5. PLATE uPpoN ELEcTRIC HEATER. : : : : : 39 
6. DABBER . 2 : : : ; : : ; : 39 
7. ROLLER . : : 2 : : : : : : 40 
8. CoaATING PLATE wiTH LIQUID GROUND 2 : : : 41 
9. HAND-VICE ‘ ; : : ‘ 2 ; : : 43 
10. NEEDLE IN Woop HANDLE : : . : : ‘ 45 
11. Eouorre . , : c : . 45 
12. ‘‘ WHISTLER’’ PoINT : : : ‘ : : : 45 
13. PoInT COMBINED WITH BURNISHER . : 7 : : 45 
14. Most sERVICEABLE TYPE OF NEEDLE. : ‘ : ; 45 
15. BuuntTEep Point : ; ; : : ; : s 45 
16. ENGINEER’s PoIntT witH SHEATH : : F ; ; 46 
17. Drypornt on Ercuina NEEDLE , : . : : 46 
18. ‘‘HapEN’”’ Drypornt ; : : : ‘ : : 46 
19. Diamonp Pornt—REVERSIBLE . : : : : ‘ 47 
20. ScrRAPER ae , ° 47 
21. Fincer Grip In SCRAPING : : ‘ ; - is 48 


16 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


FIGURE PAGE 
22. BURNISHER : : : : : 5 48 
23. ADVANTAGE OF BENT iusnre: IN A Bon ae : : 48 
24. HOME-MADE BURIN . é : : : : P : 49 
25. WELL-BALANCED BURIN . ? + : 2 : : 49 
26. HYDROMETER . : ‘ : 4 ; ‘ 5 54 
27. FRENCH BOTTLE FOR iene : ; é : ; . 55 
28. Nitric AND ‘‘ DutcH’’ LINES IN SECTION . 5 ? : 56 
29. MrtTHOD OF LOWERING PLATE INTO ACID . : 2 : 56 
30. LOWERING PLATE BY MEANS OF A STRING. ; . ; 57 
31. PLAN oF AN ETCHING ROOM : : : : : . 63 
32. IRon HEATER (GAS) . : : ‘ 5 : : ; 64 
33. PowpER COLOUR READY FOR MIXING ; ; ; ; 85 
34. GRINDING THE INK . : : : : ; 86 
35. INK READY TO BE TAKEN UP BY Ronee ; 4 : : 86 
36. THe AuTHoR’s INKING ROLLER . : : s : 3 88 
37. WHIPING THE PLATE . , 4 : : ; : ; 89 
38. WHEEL AND SPINDLE PRESS 5 f , ‘ : - 98 
39. CALLIPERS ; Woop AND METAL . : ; i : . 106 
40. HAMMER FOR REPOUSSAGE : : : : ; AK y, 
41. HAND-REST FOR SOFT GROUND . : : E : rep a We 
42, DIAMOND AND STEEL LINES é , : : : welds 
43. RELATIVE FREEDOM OF LINES . ; , ‘ : ee le2 
44, Loss oF BURR DUE TO TOO ACUTE ANGLE : ; . 133 
45. RoTrTeNn LINES DUE TO BLUNT POINT ‘ : : 7 ols 
46. Goop Linrs—AcutTE POINT : : : é : a 1 
47. Goop LINES—VERTICAL POINT . d / : : . 133 
48. MEZzzOTINT ROCKERS. : , s A : . 1385 
49, MeEzzoTINT SCRAPERS AND Or : : : aealsb 
50. Simzina : : ; : ; : : ‘ : 22142 
51. PRESS FOR FLATTENING PROOFS ; : : ; . 148 
52. Mounts . : F : ; : : : ; . 150 
53. Mounts . , : : : : : é : » 150 
54. PROPORTIONS OF MARGINS . : ; ; : : -' Lb 


55. Goop AND Bap PLacIna on Mounts : : . 152 


THE ART OF ETCHING 


ey Lae 


CHAPTER I 
INTRODUCTORY 


As this book is written professedly for the beginner first and foremost 

(although I hope that those more advanced may also find something of 

value in its pages) I intend to assume absolute ignorance on the part 

of the reader and to endeavour to describe as clearly as possible even the 
Imost elementary tools, contrivances and processes. 

It is always better for the student to have an accurate knowledge of the 
ingredients composing the various compounds and solutions that he uses 
in any craft; yet few people would advocate the making of things at 
home in a country where they can be readily purchased ; for example: 
the grinding of colours for the practice of ojl-painting when one can buy 
them far better prepared by an experienced and reliable colour-maker. 

This applies largely to the materials used for the various processes of 
engraving metal plates, though there are many appliances which can be 
made just as well at home, and at far less cost. 

I well remember, when first trying my hand at this most fascinating 
art, how difficult I found it (living some distance from a great centre) to 
obtain any information as to where certain tools and materials might be 
bought. Consequently I had to fall back on the home-made articles in 
such matters as “‘ ground ”’ and printing-ink, until, eventually, I got into 
touch with a London firm. 

Definition of Etching.—In the first placeas to what constitutes anetching. 

Our English word is derived from the Dutch etzen to eat ; therefore, in 
order to make an etching at all one must employ an eating-away, or as it 
is technically called, a biting process. 

Any solid material which reacts to a mordant can yield an etching ; 
even glass, were it possible to print from it without danger of breaking. 

Metals.—The earliest material known to us as having been employed 
to any extent was iron; but nowadays there are but two metals com- 
monly used, copper and zinc. 

Brass has been tried, and so, very recently, have aluminium and pewter. 

Steel was principally employed by the line-engravers who supplemented 
their graver work by more or less etching, but the invention of a process 
by which, with the aid of electricity, copper may be protected from wearing 

B 7 


18 INTRODUCTORY 


during printing by an extremely fine coating of iron,! deposited upon the 
surface after the engraving has been completed, allows the artist the 
freedom of working upon the more tractable metal and yet to have confi- 
dence that his plate will yield a large edition of proofs. 

In order to corrode these metal plates in certain places and, by so 
doing, to form a design, either by means of lines, as in etching 
proper; dots, as in aquatint; or whole, flat spaces, as in Blake’s 
‘relief’? blocks, various acids are employed which will be dealt with 
in due course. 

It is the ampression which is printed from one of these plates on any 
suitable material such as paper, vellum, parchment or silk which is termed 
an “ etching,” not the etched metal itself. It follows that every impression 
or “ proof” is equally an original etching. I mention this because a 
gentleman who was in charge of a post-war International Exhibition 
informed me, at its close, that so many “ original etchings ”’ had been sold 
and a further number of “ copies ”’ ! 

Relief and Intaglio Plates——Both photogravure and “ zinco”’ (line) 
blocks are strictly etched, though the print from the line-block is not called 
an “ etching ”’ because the term is only technically applied to a proof from 
a plate the design of which (that is the part which holds the ink) is bitten-in, 
while in the case of a “ zinco”’ it is exactly the reverse ; i.e. the parts 
which are not required to print are corroded, and the proof is taken from 
the surface which remains standing, as in the case of a wood-block, or the 
above-mentioned relief-etchings of Blake. 

Definition of Drypoint.—It will be seen, further, that “ drypoint ” 
though often spoken of as etching, is, in reality, no such thing, as the 
lines on the plate are not eaten away by means of acid, but are cut by a 
sharp instrument ; steel point, diamond, ruby or the like. 

Although technically miscalled when spoken of as “etching,” the 
intention in so naming it is to mark the more important fact that drypoint 
belongs to the same method as etching inasmuch as they are both printed 
from intaglo plates ; and this it is which places all kinds of “ engraving ”’ 
(including drypoint and mezzotint) and of “ etching ” (including aquatint, 
soft-ground and photogravure) in one group, as distinct from all “ relief ”’ 
or cameo methods whether engraved on wood or metal. 

Printing.—No great pressure is required in printing from any relief- 
block as the ink lies entirely on the surface, and when a sheet of paper is 
placed upon this, even a moderate rubbing with the hand is sufficient to 
register the impression. 

But, in the case of an incised or intaglio plate hardly any result can be 
obtained by direct pressure from above, even in a powerful press ; and in 
order to drive the paper down into the lines, and so take what is literally 
a cast of even the slightest irregularity of the plate’s surface, a strong 


1 The deposit is usually termed “steel,” but this is chemically incorrect; as. 
when steel is used in the bath to electrically deposit the one metal on the other, it 
loses its carbon and becomes a peculiarly hard iron. 


INTRODUCTORY 19 


roller-press is necessary with some elastic substance (the blankets) 
between the paper on the plate and the upper roller. 

Damp paper which has been placed upon an entirely uninked plate 
and passed through a powerful roller-press will shew every scratch of 
the work in relief if examined in a side light; so that an impression 
1s taken, whether there is ink in the lines to make it more visible, 
or not. 

Press.—It is the difficulty of providing a good press which probably 
prevents many from trying their hands at engraving plates by one method 
or another ; and the cost of a really first-rate article—even second-hand— 
is, to-day, prohibitive to the majority of students. 

The more fortunate may live near an Art school where such a machine 
may be used by permission, or, at worst, for the price of joining the class : 
those that do not may be able to obtain the use of a commercial copper- 
plate printer’s during off hours. Most towns boast at least one visiting- 
card printer whose press is serviceable enough, but in this case the etcher 
will be well advised to take along his own blankets. Such a printer usually 
works with one blanket, and that as hard as iron; and I speak from 
experience when I say that to remove a proof from a plate which has 
passed through such an ordeal means scraping it off in pieces ! 

Failing this, a lithographic press will yield a very fair proof from an 
etched plate if carefully adjusted. Where the beginner is quite unable to 
get access to a press of any kind, the best thing to do is to send the plate 
to the nearest reliable etching-printer and to be as patient as possible in 
the interim ; but, unfortunately, the less experience the etcher has, the 
more necessary for him to see a proof from the plate upon which he is at 
- work, in order to know exactly what his depth of line yields when printed ; 
while the old hand is able to judge pretty accurately how far he has 
succeeded by the look of the lines on the metal, especially if these are 
filled with some substance—ordinary plate-polish is.as good as anything— 
een allows them to show up strongly against the shining, polished 
suriace. | 

Substitutes for Press.—In Mr. Koehler’s notes at the end of his transla- 
tion of Lalanne’s treatise *‘ On Etching ’’ (1880) he suggests taking a cast in 
plaster of Paris. The lines are inked (see Chapter X) and the plaster 
mixed in a glass (one of water to two of plaster), and, when beginning to 
thicken, poured over the plate. In any case the result would be crude 
and only approximate. A much more serviceable idea was put forward 
in some work—I forget where—for obtaining a proof. This was the con- 
version of a good mangle into a temporary press, by the introduction of 
a drawing-board or other smooth plank between its rollers to serve as a 
travelling-bed. The principle of a mangle is that of an etching-press if 
the spring at the top (designed to prevent too great pressure when a button 
or other hard object passes through) be prevented from functioning ; and 
at least one well-known etcher has told us how he acted upon the hint in 
his early days. But to make a really workman-like machine which would 


20 INTRODUCTORY 


give sufficiently accurate results ought not to be beyond the powers of a 
good ironworker. 

There is no delicate mechanism to adjust, all that is essential being 
that the rollers run true: and if by any chance a couple of iron cylinders 
could be procured, the rest should be comparatively easy. Failing iron, 
hard, wood rollers will serve. My own first press was obtained at an Kast- 
end auction room and was a most ancient affair. There was a travelling- 
bed several inches thick of iron-wood (lignum-vite) ; no regulating screws ; 
and, needless to say, no gearing. Nevertheless, though cumbersome, and 
by no means true compared with a modern all-iron machine, it answered 
my purpose well enough (all my early editions were pulled on it) till the 
day arrived that I could afford a better. This sort of difficulty will always 
be met and overcome by the really keen student, and he is the only type 
worth bothering about. The youth (of either sex) who cannot begin until 
the most up-to-date appliances are provided will not go far ! 

The beginner should bear in mind that etching, though undoubtedly one 
of the most fascinating of all the graphic arts, is, at the same time, one 
of the most exacting. It is comparable to the playing of a difficult 
instrument, such as the violin or piano, in that it demands constant 
practice. 

The first part of the process—the biting with acid—is a chemical ex- 
periment every time, and though this is one of the chief charms of the 
game, yet without practice one is hopelessly handicapped. 

The principle of working is not at all difficult to grasp ; but to control 
the application of it in actual handling is always hazardous, and the 
element of luck makes the game all the more intensely absorbing. 

This element of chance is always present to a certain extent, even if 
the etcher take all the scientific precautions now possible to utilize— 
thermometer, hydrometer and all the rest—without which Rembrandt got 
along somehow. The chief reason is the difficulty of seeing directly the 
result of the work, in the way that the draughtsman with pencil or brush 
can: watching the mark of his stroke, even as he makes it. 

Need for Practice and some Qualifications Want of practice (lack of 
mere sleight-of-hand as well as forgetfulness) makes itself felt immediately 
in the final process of printing, also ; and my own experience in 1919 (when 
I had not touched a printer’s rag for nearly four years) was that my hand 
had not only lost its cunning, but that I had forgotten how certain effects 
had been arrived at in the past, and had to experiment afresh. 

Ktching, therefore, is not a medium which can be taken up occasionally, 
at long intervals, without risk of finding that either one’s memory or one’s 
manual dexterity has gone. 

Another point that the student should remember is that, though he 
may take as long as is desired over the preparations for an etching, he 
must have the idea, finally, complete—either set down in another medium 
or in his head—before beginning upon the actual plate. The more clearly 
he is able to visualize the desired result in imagination, the more chance 


INTRODUCTORY 21 


of the lines being put down with vigour and spontaneity : two of the most 
important qualities that a really fine plate should possess. 

No one, therefore, need start working in this medium who finds it 
impossible to make up his or her mind as to what has to be done before 
beginning to do it! This may sound absurd, but, after all, it is one of 
the most common failings. How many know what they really want to 
do? Now, in oil-painting one may fumble away for months on one canvas, 
and yet arrive at something, without necessarily showing the traces of 
one’s many tentative efforts. This at least is a common enough practice. 

But in attacking a copper plate one cannot go to work in that manner. 
If one finds the initial planning to be wrong, it is far better to throw the 
plate away and (with added experience) start a second; and (may be) 
after that, a third. But all this means that the mind is being made up 
on the copper when it might have been satisfied by working the matter 
out in another medium—a medium far less exasperating and decidedly 
more economical. 

Another quality is essential—and if the student is without it, it must 
be acquired—Patience. 

This may apply almost equally to every art, but is certainly a sine qua 
non in etching. One must be prepared to spoil plate after plate, not only 
as a tyro but always ; and, having spoiled one, not to give up in disgust 
(I know a very fine painter indeed who began etching, and gave up the 
whole thing after his first failure), but to begin again ; and to repeat this, 
when necessary, as long as one continues to etch ! 

One must never be afraid of making mistakes, but always of giving up 
because of them. The plates which do come off make it all well worth while. 
If the student thinks he has something definite to say in etching—having 
probably seen good work done by others in the medium, and feeling drawn 
towards it as sympathetic to the expression of what he himself sees—then 
by all means let him go ahead and try his hand. Only, let him go at it 
boldly, and, having made a mess of one plate, start making a mess of a 
second ! 

Although verbal advice from a master will probably save many blunders 
and disappointments at the outset, yet it is quite possible to learn what is 
essential from a textbook. I know this from personal experience ; and 
though it takes longer, what one teaches oneself (through one’s mistakes, 
largely) sticks, in a way that no knowledge can which has been gained 
from a teacher who prevents one making those same mistakes. 

The Art School.—One of the dangers of the modern Art school is that 
the students often have too much done for them ; and this is fatal when 
the course is over. I was once visiting one of the best-known schools, and 
asked one of the women students what strength of acid she was using. 
The astonishing answer was: “I don’t know; it’s what we have given 
us!” No doubt this was individual slackness on the part of the student, 
but if she had had to go out and buy, and afterwards mix, her acid, she 
could not have answered as she did, 


22 INTRODUCTORY 


To repeat what I said first of all: it is good to know how one’s materials 
are made, and to be able to make them (at a pinch) ; but it is only waste 
of time for the student living within reach of a dealer to make up his own 
grounds, varnishes, etc., as the firms who manufacture such things can 
make them far better—being specialists, with the specialist’s equipment— 
than the amateur ; and, in most cases, as cheaply. 

This book, however, may fall into the hands of someone who lives out 
of reach of the dealer, and for that reason I have tried to combine in it 
my own experience with all the information I can gather from previous 
books on the subject and individual notes from several distinguished 
artists, together with the invaluable suggestions of two famous chemists. 


CHAPTER II 
ESSENTIALS 


THE essential materials for the making of an etching are really very few. 
They are :— 

. A metal plate. 

. An acid-resisting ground. 

. A point which will cut through the ground. 

. Acid. 


. Ink, paper and a press. 


CUR Go De 


To execute a drypoint, Numbers 2 and 4 are not required. 

These few materials and tools are the necessities, given which a per- 
fectly good etching or drypoint can be wrought (see Diirer’s prints, 
Chapter XX). In etching, the plate is covered very thinly and evenly 
with the ground, which the point serves merely to remove without scratch- 
ing the surface of the metal. 

When the drawing is completed the plate is submerged in a bath of 
acid, and this fixes the lines, their depth depending solely upon the length 
of time they are exposed to the action of the mordant. 

The ground is then cleaned off and the face of the plate covered with 
printing-ink, which is so wiped away that, though the surface is polished, 
the ink is retained in the bitten lines. 

The plate is now placed upon the bed of a press, damped paper laid 
upon it, blanketing over that, and the whole pulled between the rollers. 
Upon lifting the paper the ink from the lines will be found to have trans- 
ferred itself from plate to proof. 

In the case of a drypoint the instrument used for drawing must be 
strong enough and sufficiently sharp to cut into the metal, and besides 
this weapon two others are nearly always required, a ‘“‘scraper”’ and a 
smoothing tool called a “ burnisher,”’ which often fills the place that india- 
rubber occupies in pencil drawing. 

The scraper is used for removing the “ burr,”’ as the rough ridge is 
called which is thrown up at the edge of each line by the point, exactly 
as a furrow is flanked by its ridge after the passage of the plough. 

These three instruments are all that are necessary (except for the cor- 
rection of serious mistakes) in the whole working of a drypoint. 

In order to explain the principal differences between these two mediums, 
I will use an analogy from another art. 

I have always considered the difference between etching (including all 
bitten methods) and drypoint as essentially that between the organ and 
the piano, In organ playing, the sound is controlled solely by the stops, 


23 


24 ESSENTIALS 


and no matter how lightly or heavily the musician hits the keys—provided 
that he puts them down firmly enough to sound at all—the volume remains 
the same while any given stop is in use. In other words, the “ colour,”’ 
or “light and shade,” is obtained by the skilful control of a mechanical 
device. 

In piano playing, exactly the opposite is the case. Ignoring the addi- 
tional contrivance of the modern “‘ uni-corda ”’ pedal, the volume of sound 
is dependent entirely upon the action of the hand upon the keyboard, an 
increase of volume corresponding to the added force with which the notes 
are struck, and consequently the piano is personal in “ touch.” 

It will be seen that in etching, where a blunt instrument is employed 
to skate over the surface of the plate, removing the covering of the ground 
but not penetrating the metal below, there can be no emphasis from the 
action of the hand in drawing. Provided that the touch be firm enough 
to remove all the wax, so that the acid may reach the metal at all, the 
strength of line and “ colour ” is controlled entirely by the mordant, and 
contrast in depth depends upon the length of time that some parts are 
permitted to bite in relation to other parts. This is controlled as a rule 
by “stopping-out ” those parts which have been sufficiently bitten, by 
covering them with an acid-proof varnish ; then continuing the biting of 
the unprotected parts and so on to the last and heaviest bitings of all. 

In etching, therefore, there can be no “ touch.” 

On the other hand, in drypoint the strength of the line depends entirely 
upon the force with which the point is driven into the metal, so that the 
“touch ” is infinitely more variable than in any acid-controlled process. 
It is consequently more personal—more autographic—in every way except 
in the matter of direction. 

Although the student will eventually find it necessary to possess a 
number of tools and materials other than those above mentioned if he is 
to do anything but the most elementary work—I mean technically 
elementary, as artistically first-rate etchings can be, and have been, pro- 
duced with those only—yet the fewer with which he can manage the 
greater the control which he will gain over those few, and consequently 
the more expressive the work produced by their means. 

In oil painting, the man who keeps fifty colours in his outfit will always 
be more worried, when selecting any for a given passage, than the man 
who has only six and knows, from constant practice, the capabilities of 
those six. Not needing to think about the colours themselves, he can 
concentrate all his energies on expressing what he sees in terms of his 
limited range. 

So many tools have been invented by different practicians (and by firms 
catering for them) in recent years, that the beginner is very apt to be 
confused when confronted with the etching-dealer’s catalogue; and by 
far the wisest plan is to procure those which are indispensable ; make the 
best possible use of them, and gradually supplement this outfit as real 
need arises, 


ESSENTIALS 25 


In the following chapters I intend to take these materials and their 
preparation and use individually, and though I may express a preference 
for one tool, or method, where several are given, it will only be after 
setting forth the reason for so doing as logically as possible; and the 
reader who is of a sceptical nature—and the best students usually are, I 
think—had better try them all and choose for himself. What suits one 
may not suit another, and the more cautious and methodical may prefer 
(for instance) a slow-biting but safer acid; while the student to whom 
patience only comes with effort will get on more happily with a mordant 
of rapid, though more dangerous, action. 

I shall try to set down those ways of working which have descended 
to us from an honoured past, as they may be preferred to my own by 
some (that is, in those instances where the two are at variance) ; but in 
general the art has altered very little in practice, in spite of modern 
ingenuity, since the time of Rembrandt. We use a steel press where he 
relied upon a wooden one, but the principle is the same and the one is 
merely a little truer than the other ; and nothing that has been produced 
since his day has been in any way technically superior to the work of that 
great Dutchman. 


CHAPTER III 
THE PLATE 


Or the two metals used most extensively to-day, copper and zinc, copper 
is the more expensive, but also the tougher and more capable of yielding 
both finer results and larger editions of good proofs. 

Old v. Modern.—In the old days—indeed, the practice is probably still 
carried on here and there—plates were hammered by hand until their 
texture became extremely dense and fine, and free from open seams. 

The cost of labour at the present time makes such a practice prohibitive, 
and most, if not all, modern etchers use machine-rolled copper, which, 
though much softer in texture, is generally very equal in consistency 
throughout. 

Chemists tell us, however, that the purer a metal is—the freer it is from 
impurities—the less is it attacked by an acid; and the old copper plates 
probably held a larger proportion of alloys, and in consequence may have 
been bitten more readily. But, after all, modern commercial copper is 
not so pure that it will cause any great anxiety on that account ! 

The plates are quite good if free from seams, which are, of course, readily 
detected if on the surface; but unfortunately they occasionally appear 
after work has been begun, when the original face of the copper is scraped 
in order to make an alteration. This means that the seam was closed at 
its edges by the pressure of the machine rollers, but not filled up under- 
neath. This need not worry the beginner as it is not of common 
occurrence, but it is well to scrutinize the surface carefully before 
buying. 

The most marked difference between these commercial plates and the 
old hand-beaten ones will be found in the use of drypoint. Though very 
much easier to cut into, the new plates (principally manufactured for 
photogravure and similar processes) will not stand nearly so large an edition 
in the printing. Some time ago a friend gave me a parcel of old engraved 
plates which I had resurfaced. Upon one of these I did a drypoint head, 
and not only was it far more laborious to cut into, but I found the steel 
tool very quickly blunted, and not wishing to keep on stopping in order 
to sharpen it, a good deal of the work was executed with too blunt an 
instrument. 

How to Buy.—The most economical way to buy plates is in whole sheets 
as they are sent out by the manufacturers, and to have these cut up into 
sizes most suitable for the purpose of the individual buyer ; always taking 
into consideration the outside measurements of the sheet in order to fit 
the aggregate length of the plates into the whole without wasting strips 
at the end, which, while too narrow to be of practical use, yet when 


26 


THE PLATE 27 


running across the whole width may mean an appreciable weight of metal 
to be paid for. 

Thickness.—As copper and zinc are always sold by weight, it is well to 
avoid sheets of too great thickness. The most serviceable for medium- 
sized plates is 18 gauge. The sheets are standardized : the usual measure- 
ments about 25 x 20 inches. For small plates 19 gauge is quite thick 
enough, but not readily obtainable ; but very thin copper is sometimes 
a nuisance, as it is apt to curl up in the press, and though easily flattened 
by passing through longways or even upside down, this wastes time and 
puts one out. A curved plate is naturally difficult to wipe in printing. 
On the other hand, too thick a plate is liable to cause the paper to part 
(if at all brittle) at the plate-mark. 

I once had one of Andrew Geddes’s plates (a copy of a Rembrandt head) 
to print, which was so extraordinarily thick—obviously home-made, unlike 
others of his which I have handled—that there was the greatest difficulty 
in preventing any paper other than Japanese from bursting. There was 
no cutting : the edges of the plate, which only measured 3 x 24 inches, 
were quite round and smooth ; but the depth was so great that the down- 
ward drive of the blankets simply pulled the fibre apart at the plate-mark. 
Japanese paper, having a longer fibre than European, and more elasticity 
in consequence, did not suffer. This is quite exceptional, but worth 
noting. 

Edges.—There is no need to bother about the edges of a plate until the 
work has been bitten, or rather until the plate is ready to be proved for 
the first time ; because, while the acid is being used the edges are certain 
to be attacked more or less—even if protected by varnish to begin with, 
the manipulation of the copper is bound to remove it in places—and the 
filing will have to be done over again. The smoothing of edges is not 
merely for the sake of the appearance of the proof, but a matter of vital 
importance to the safety of both paper and blankets. A cut etching is 
at worst only one print spoiled ;- but a cut blanket is a much more serious 
matter, as it is impossible to mend. A sharp plate-edge, under heavy 
pressure, will go right through the whole set of blankets, which means 
the placing of the lot permanently out of action. Another reason for 
deferring the filing of the edges is that the plate may be spoiled in the 
drawing or biting, and not worth proving at all ! 

Some middlemen dealers sell carefully bevelled plates and charge an 
exorbitant price for the extra labour involved—I have known consider- 
ably more than double the market rate of copper asked—and to purchase 
these is sheer waste of money, as a good file about 8 inches in length will 
soon do all the bevelling and smoothing necessary after the work is com- 
pleted. It often happens that a plate is cut a little out of the square ; 
or, for the sake of composition, it may be better to remove } inch or so 
on one side or the other : in both cases the file, or possibly more than one 
—a coarser for cutting and a finer for smoothing—is essential, unless one 
is to trot round to the plate-cutter quite frequently. 


28 THE PLATE 


For serious filing, such as the latter possibility entails, it is best to clamp 
the plate to a firm table—I use the iron travelling-bed of the press—for 
which purpose a small screw-vice is very handy. Care must be taken to 
pad the vice jaws to avoid scratching the surface, and an excellent pre- 
ventive is an old, useless plate placed over the one to be worked on, with 
a sheet of blotting-paper between them, and then screwed down as firmly 
as possible (Fig. 1). Before beginning rule a fairly deep line with a cutting 
point where the new edge is to be; otherwise it will be difficult to judge 
how far the work has gone, and whether 
it is being removed equally along the 
whole edge. 

If much is to be taken off, begin by 
filing at a very acute angle, i.e. making 
a very broad bevel; then turn the plate 
over, being careful to place a pad of soft 
paper beneath it, and work in the same 
way at the back. Push the file away from 
the body, using its edge almost as if it 
were a knife. This will shave off the 
thin bevel remarkably quickly and at 
the same time will prevent the edge curling downwards as it will if filed 
only on one side. In order to finish, the plate must be reversed once 
more, and this alternate bevelling, first on one side and then on the other, 
may be necessary more than once if the strip to be removed is broad. 

Cutting up Sheets.—But where a large portion is to be cut away, filing 
would be much too tedious a process. In up-to-date workshops a steel 
guillotine is now used for cutting up all plates. It is a most useful and 
time-saving instrument, but naturally far too costly for the average etcher 
to indulge in, as well as taking up a lot of space. 

To cut a plate in the absence of a guillotine by far the best plan is to 
make as deep a groove as possible with a steel point and ruler, and then 
to work up this line several times with the graver or burin. In order to 
prevent slipping, I find the method of clamping a second plate over the 
one to be cut, as above described, an excellent one. I place it about 
+ inch from the line, so that the shoulder of the graver just touches its 
edge, which acts as a ruler. If there is a slip it also prevents damage to 
the new plate. 

There is no need to cut completely through the copper, as after working 
three or four times along the line a sharp jerk or two will snap what is 
still unsevered. 

A plate cut in this manner needs very little filing: far less than one 
cut in the more usual way with chisel and hammer, which leaves an 
extremely ragged edge. 

After filing or cutting a worked-on plate it is very necessary to make 
sure that no metal filings remain in the lines. It is easy to sweep them off 
the surface, but a brush may be required to free the lines, and for this 





Fig. 1. 


THE PLATE 29 


purpose a stiff shaving brush—the cheapest kind is better because stiffer 
than a badger—answers admirably. On no account must they be allowed 
to get on to any of the rags in use for cleaning or printing, or horrible 
scratches will result and the work be ruined. 

Zine.—For open, free-line etchings and for aquatint, zinc is quite as 
good as copper. Some of Haden’s best plates were of zinc, as he excelled 
in simple, straightforward, vigorously-bitten effects—indeed he has left it 
on record that he thought zinc more suited to the needs of an artist— 
but the student will be well advised not to change from one to the other 
at the beginning, as the acid—nitric particularly—acts rather differently 
upon the two metals. 

Difference in Biting.—Supposing that two plates, one copper and the 
other zinc, were drawn upon in the same manner, the design including a 
closely worked passage of cross-hatching together with parts where the 
lines were widely separated from each other ; and that these plates were 
bitten in the same way (allowing a weaker acid for zinc) : would the results 
be identical ? Leaving aside the coarseness of grain belonging to the softer 
metal, one would be inclined to answer, Yes. 

But they would not, for the following reason : 

On the copper the tendency would be for the close-worked passages to 
become more strongly accentuated than the open lines ; while on the zine 
all the lines would be found to bite equally. 

This means that an etcher accustomed to the action of acid (I am 
referring principally to nitric throughout) on copper would take for granted 
that where a larger proportion of metal was exposed the attack would be 
correspondingly vigorous ; and, allowing for the same peculiarity in biting 
his zinc, would be disappointed at the flatness of the result. 

In other words, the acid emphasizes the light and shade of the drawing, 
biting more rapidly where the lines are massed more closely on the one 
metal; but, on the other, pays no attention to the amount of metal 
exposed, biting the lines literally as they are drawn. Consequently there 
is need for more careful stopping-out upon zinc if the relative light and 
shade is to be obtained. 

Drawbacks of Zinc.—For very fine, close work, zinc is certainly inferior, 
being softer and coarser in grain, and more liable to “ foul-bite,” 1.e. for 
the mordant to find its way through the protecting “ ground ”’ where no 
lines have been drawn. I fancy this is because the nature of the metal 
makes it more difficult for the wax to grip, there being a certain “ greasi- 
ness ’—absent from copper—which makes very thorough cleaning 
imperative. 

Naturally its softness inclines it to be less suitable than copper for dry- 
point, and in any process the metal will wear more rapidly during printing. 
Zinc is also far more easily attacked by anything it may come in contact 
with when put away ; either by impurities—such as chlorine—in the paper 
it may be wrapped in, or in the atmosphere ; and the only safeguard is 
to cover the surface with wax. A fine aquatint plate may be ruined in a 


30 THE PLATE 


very short time if wrapped up in a chemically-bleached white paper, or 
left exposed to the air. 

** Steeling.’’—Though copper can be “‘steeled,” it is generally under- 
stood that zinc cannot ; but it is quite possible to “copper” it. I have 
made sufficient enquiries to be certain that the process of steel-facing zinc 
is not commonly known in this country.1_ Probably there is no commercial 
advantage (and, therefore, no incentive) in the proposition. Be this as it 
may, on page 73 of Lalanne’s ‘‘ On Etching ”’ (1880) Mr. Koehler gives the 
following footnote : “ Zinc plates can be steel-faced, but the facing cannot 
be renewed, as it cannot be removed.2 The zinc plate on which Mr. 
Lansil’s little etching . . . is executed, was steel-faced. It is feasible also, 
the electrotypers tell me, to deposit a thin coating of copper on the zinc 
first, and then to superimpose a coating of steel. In that case the steel 
facing can be renewed as long as the copper facing under it remains intact.”’ 

Surfacing.—Although plates are sold ready polished, it is necessary to 
know how to do the necessary work for oneself, as in any case the process 
will be required by everyone for making partial alterations later on. 

** Snakestone.’’—This is first of all employed to wear away the whole 
surface, and in order to do this evenly a sufficiently wide and heavy piece 
must be used; say about the size of the ordinary Washita oil-stone, or 
14 inches in width, which is not too cumbersome for the hand. 

The best stone I know is called “‘ Water-of-Ayr” and can be bought 
; in a number of gradated 
sizes from +} inch up- 
wards (Fig. 2). It is 
used with water, and care 
should be taken to push the stone with as steady a driving motion as 
possible, and to avoid jerks. 

To grind down an old plate which is covered with fairly deep lines takes 
a lot of energy and time, but sometimes, when one is in great need of a 
plate, and cannot get one except by writing (entailing several days’ wait), 
it may be worth doing. 

Charcoal.—After the surface has been planed quite free from lines and 
scratches, charcoal is used to remove the roughness left by the stone 
(Fig. 3). Here again a 
broad piece is necessary | 
for work upon a large 
area, and the sticks are 
sold in all sizes and of 
several degrees of tough- 
ness and cutting power. 

In the “History and 
Art of Engraving,” 4th edition (1770), page 53, the unknown writer 

* Mr. W. C. Kimber tells me that he undertakes to “ steel ” zinc. 


, * ie. presumably an acid which will attack steel more quickly than zinc is not 
nown. 







PR ERE 


Fic. 2. 








Fic. 3.—Charcoal planing. 


THE PLATE 31 


advises the following treatment of charcoal for finishing-work after 
the use of, first, a piece of grinding-stone and water ; second, pumice- 
stone and water; and third, a smooth hone! and water: ‘*‘ Then choose 
out a smooth charcoal, without any knots, or rough Grain, and put it in 
a well kindled fire: let it be there till you perceive it red-hot; then 
take it out and quench it in water . . . pare off the outermost Rind and 
rub your plate with it and Water till all the small strokes of the hone 
are rubbed out.”’ 

The author hints, later, that charcoal, so treated, cuts better; but I 
have never tried it, nor have I heard of anyone else doing so. 

Willow is the most commonly used wood, and it is best to keep a coarse- 
grained piece for beginning, and a finer grained piece for finishing. Some 
use oil with the charcoal in final polishing. If this is done, the stick so 
used must be reserved for use with oil, as it will refuse to work with water 
afterwards. Oil kills the bite of the coal very largely, and personally I 
rarely use them together. 

Oils.—The best oils for this work are olive and sperm, but ordinary 
machine-oil is quite satisfactory. It is not absolutely necessary to use 
any lubricant with charcoal, and when dry it tends to cut less and polish 
more, 

One should be careful to remove any pieces of rough bark before using, 
as this is extremely hard and will scratch the surface badly, making matters 
worse instead of better. The angles of the end should then be rounded 
with a knife, or by rubbing against a rough surface, and felt with the 
hand to see that no sharp points remain jutting out. The stick should 
be cut to a bevel as in Fig. 3, and should be pushed with the heel of the 
hand in the same way as the snakestone; always carrying the stroke 
through as in planing wood, and removing the pressure before stopping 
and drawing back. 

Charcoal is not usually sufficiently fine to put a really good surface on 
the metal. If after the use of snakestone the plate were inked and cleaned 
off, the resultant proof would have a fairly heavy scratchy tone, held by 
the roughness of the surface. This tone after the action of charcoal on the 
plate would appear considerably lessened, but stilltoo heavy and unequal, 
unequal, so that something smoother must be employed to finish the work. 

Powder Polishes.—There are many polishing powders which can be used 
for this purpose, together with water or oil, and the choice may be left 
to personal preference with as much likelihood of each etcher selecting 
the best, as in the matter of choosing a tooth-paste. 

Amongst these are pumice, crocus, putty, emery, slate and rotten-stone 
powders ; rouge, Tripoli or a paste made by crushing charcoal and mixing 
it with oil or vaseline. 

Oil-rubber.—All are applied, in the time-honoured fashion, by means 
of what is termed an “ oil-rubber ” (Fig. 4). This is easily made by tightly 
rolling a piece of blanket, felt or “fronting ”’ (the finest printing blanket) 


1 It is not clear what kind of hone he refers to. 


32 THE PLATE 


and binding round and round with twine. The surplus material is then 
cut off, smoothly, just above the place where the string stops, and the 
tool (having been saturated with oil) held vertically—i.e. at right angles 
to the plate—and the flat end employed to rub with. It may, of course, 
be made of any diameter required. Solid felt pads attached to wooden 
handles are also sold by the etcher’s dealer, but are 
only serviceable for polishing a large area ; neither has 
the flat felt the grip possessed by the coiled material. 
In using either pad or oil-rubber the surface should be 
carefully examined in order to detect any grit which 
may be clinging to it, and which would play havoc with 





g the plate. 
Fic. 4.—Oil-rubber Plate Polishes.—Although, when I began to practise 
for polishing. etching, I fashioned one of these implements, I soon 


abandoned it, and all the dry powders, for the modern 
plate-polish which is easily obtainable wherever one happens to be, 
is already ground and mixed, and has several other advantages which 
will be mentioned later on. 

Probably the best of these was pre-war “‘ Globe Polish,” which was a 
paste put up in round tins of convenient size ; but this went the way of 
many good things during the war, being, I believe, of German manu- 
facture. “‘ Brasso’”’ is my present polish; but there are many probably 
equally good spirit polishes based on some such powder as pumice. 

By folding up a piece of soft rag into a pad an excellent surface can be 
procured with the polish and a little elbow-grease. 

The student should experiment with various polishes and choose that 
which he finds answers his requirements ; but discretion 1s needed, because 
some liquids sold have too drastic an action (containing possibly a per- 
centage of some free acid) and are too dangerous for use upon an etched 
plate. 

It is of the least importance how a surface polish is obtained, so long as 
it can be obtained at will and is suitable for printing from. 

Burnishing.—Some etchers advocate burnishing the plate all over with 
the steel tool (described later) before the final polishing. This is a difficult 
proceeding if the usual small burnisher is used, as the work is apt to be 
irregular ; but it tends to harden the surface and get rid of fine scratches 
left by the charcoal. It is not ordinarily necessary. 

After these three processes—(a) ‘‘ Water of Ayr” stone, (b) willow 
charcoal, with either water or water followed by oil, (c) oil-rubber and 
powder or plate-polish—the plate should show a perfectly equal shining 
surface, and should act as a perfect mirror. If one’s reflection is distorted, 
it means that the grinding has been done unequally and the surface 
1S Wavy. 

Re-surfacing.— This waviness occurs in plates which have been ground 
down inexpertly on a buffing-machine. This machine is employed in 
ordinary metal-workers’ shops for making name-plates and in similar 


THE PLATE 33 


commercial jobs, and these firms will sometimes undertake to re-surface 
old plates. 

I had an experience of such a firm soon after the war which may serve 
as a warning to the unwary. I was informed that this firm used to do 
such work at a moderate charge, and taking a batch of old plates I asked 
the man in the shop what it would cost to have the backs replaned, as 
they were in fair condition and would entail less labour than the removing 
of etched lines. He could give no figure, but estimated that it would not 
be very expensive ; so I left them with the proviso that the work should 
not be undertaken if it were likely to cost as much as new copper. Imagine 
my feelings when the plates were returned with such wavy surfaces (to say 
nothing of pits) that they were practically useless, plus a bill for about 
thrice the value of new ones ! 

When I went to complain, the man who had taken my order had left, 
and no one in the workshop had any record of my instructions. The 
original surfaces had been planed—not the backs—and the British work- 
man’s time had amounted to my modest bill ! 

With the present cost of labour, therefore, it is not usually worth while 
having plates re-surfaced in Great Britain, as it used to be before the war 
—at any rate, by the non-expert. 

Selling Old Plates.—Old plates which are not wanted can be sold as 
“old copper ”’ to any metal dealer, and the price, though relatively small, 
is better than nothing (about 6d. per Ib.). 

Cleaning.—Having either bought or prepared a plate for himself, 
the student next has to clean it thoroughly if it is to be etched 
upon. 

This is by no means the religious rite which several textbooks tend to 
make of it. In fact, one might say that most treatises are enough to put 
any but the most determined students out of conceit with the idea of 
beginning at all, by over-emphasizing the need for spotless purity in the 
etcher’s abode—that a speck of dust or a touch from a greasy finger means 
ruin to the work—and so on! It is all nonsense; and no artist who ever 
etched could live up to it. 

Anything which will remove grease from the plate’s surface without 
otherwise injuring it will do to clean with. My usual practice is to rub it 
first with a clean rag and turpentine ; and while the rag is moist to pass 
it over a large lump of whitening and rub the plate with the resulting 
paste. In a few moments this will become darkened and slightly greenish 
from its passage over the metal. The pad is then turned to present a 
clean dry face ; again rubbed on the whitening and then on the plate. 
I turn the rag as many times as is necessary until the plate is dry and 
free from the powder. One should remember to dust the edges, which being 
rough are inclined to hold the whitening, and also the back, as it is 
important to prevent any powder jumping up on to the surface again 
while the ground is being laid. Methylated spirits, alcohol, benzoline, 
benzine, petrol or any other volatile liquid of that nature will answer, and 


34 THE PLATE 


are all less greasy than turpentine, but for use with whitening tend to 
evaporate rather too quickly. 

A very good cleaning mixture which I found in use by the students at 
the Royal College, under Sir Frank Short, is whitening mixed with 
ammonia. This was kept in saucers, and after the plate had been rubbed 
with the mixture it was washed under the tap at the sink. It could be 
dried by means of a clean rag, blotting-paper or heating. But this use 
of water is a disadvantage, as it needs careful and rapid drying to avoid 
tarnish. The surface once clean should not be fingered before the ground 
is laid. 

Tarnish.—A polished plate which has been left exposed or has been 
wrapped in a chemically bleached paper will often be very badly tarnished. 
This can easily be removed with plate-polish ; but ifa bitten plate becomes 
darkened it is easier, and much safer, to remove the stains with the aid 
of a little household salt (sodium chloride) in acetic acid, or, failing that, 
vinegar. These are mixed just before use or even upon the plate (see 
Chapter VI). This removes any tarnish immediately, but should not be 
allowed to remain longer on a worked plate than necessary. This stain 
remover is particularly valuable in the case of a drypoint which must not 
be rubbed. Wash under the tap before drying. 


CHAPTER IV 


GROUNDS AND “ GROUNDING’”’ THE PLATE 
THERE are many grounds in use, but most of them rely upon the same 
ingredients in varying proportions. A good ground must have the follow- 
ing properties :— 

(a) It must be impervious to acid. 

(0) It must be sufficiently hard to allow of being freely handled and 
to prevent adhesion to the needle as the drawing proceeds. When 
removed by the point it should be possible to blow it away in the form 
of dust. 

(c) It must be elastic enough to permit the needle to move freely in 
any direction without chipping or “ flying,” especially where the lines are 
drawn closely together and cross-hatched. In very cold weather the best 
ground is liable to become brittle, unless specially prepared for such 
conditions. 

A combination of wax, pitch or mastic and asphaltum meets all the 
above requirements. The following are some of the recipes which have 
come down to us: 

Seventeenth Century.—The following is from the 8rd edition of Abraham 
Bosse’s ‘“‘ De la Maniére de Graver a |’eau forte,’”’ which contains much 
added by Cochin of great interest to the student. Bosse’s 1st edition 
was issued in Paris in 1645 and was probably the first book on the 
subject, as he claims. He had evidently known, or been in touch with, 
Callot, who had been dead ten years. Callot’s hard ground : 

Equal parts of huile grasse, made from the best linseed oil, and mastic, 
heated until mixed and melted. This was used with the mordant which 
will be given later (see Chapter VI). Both ground and mordant have been 
completely superseded by the soft grounds and stronger acids. The soft 
ground is our ordinary ground and must not be confused with ground 
mixed with tallow for “ soft-ground etching,” the Vernis mou of modern 
etching. 

There is also a soft ground given as “ from a Callot manuscript ”’ which 
is an unnecessarily complicated mixture containing seven ingredients ! 
This indicates, however, that Callot also worked with the stronger 
mordant. 

The hard ground is of interest because it shows that the men who 
employed it thought of etching merely as a quicker means of imitating 
the strokes of the burin. 


1 See Chapter XIX, p. 172. The 2nd edition was edited by Le Clerc in 1701 and 
the 3rd enlarged in 1745. 


35 


36 GROUNDS AND ‘“ GROUNDING” THE PLATE 


The soft grounds in this book are numerous :— 


(1) Virginwax . : : é , . 14 ozs. 
Mastic (in drops) : : : woe hye 
Asphaltum . $02. 

(2) Virgin wax ; ee leOZe 
Asphaltum, or Greek pitch 5 AYA, 
Black pitch. ; . $02. 
Burgundy pitch - 4 02. 

(3) Virginwax . ; . 25 028. 
Asphaltum : : . - 2 028. 
Resin. . : , . $02. 
Burgundy pitch ; : : 3 ozs. 
Turpentine. : “un sol”’ 

_(halfpenny worth ?) 

(4) Virginwax . 2 OZs. 
Asphaltum . 2 ozs. 
Black pitch. ; . 02. 
Burgundy pitch . $02. 


Perhaps the most interesting of allis the ground given as “‘ Rimbrant’s,” 
which is almost identical with that left on record in England by Hollar, 
including the white lead and gum-water.t “In this manner Rimbrant 
varnished his plates ’’ :— 


Virgin wax ; . : eLEO?: 
Mastic . : er OZ. 
Asphaltum, or amber ; , . $02. 


Pound the mastic and asphaltum in a mortar separately (from the wax). 
Melt the wax in a pot over the fire and pour in the others little by little, 
stirring until well mixed. Then pour the whole into water. In laying 
this ground do not heat the plate too much and do not smoke it. Spread 
over it when cool extremely finely ground white lead diluted with ‘“ eau 
gommé.” I do not know what sort of vehicle this last was precisely,? but 
many gums would answer. 

I have never seen it stated in any textbook that Rembrandt used 
this whitened ground, but it was the tradition in those days in 
France. 

Hamerton in the 1868 edition of “‘ Etching and Etchers,” mentions this 
ground, but does not finish the translation by adding the white lead and 
gum. Yet he calls it a “ white’ ground, which, if it contains asphaltum, 
it can hardly be, by itself ! 


1“ A Description of the Works of Wenceslaus Hollar,”’ by George Vertue, 1759 
(2nd ed.), p. 133. Hollar employed a duck’s wing feather for spreading on the ground 
and squirrel’s tail brush for the white. 

* For a similar recipe see Note by Frank Brangwyn, p. 345. 


GROUNDS AND “GROUNDING” THE PLATE 37 


A true white ground is given in the “Ars Pictoria,’’ by Alex. Browne, 
1669. This is :— 


Wax : . : ; AN Sy 
Resin j } : ‘ 2 O78" 
Venice Cerus E ; : me LOZ: 


The first two are melted together and the finely ground Cerus added 
after. 

Kighteenth Century.—From the “ History and Art of Engraving,” 
(2) edition (1747); 4th edition (1770). This anonymous book is practi- 
cally a translation stolen almost word for word from the foregoing without 
acknowledgment :— 


Hard ground. Greek pitch or Burgundy pitch . M5 0z8: 
Rosin of Tyre or Ordinary rosin . . 5 02s. 


Melt together in a glazed pot over a gentle fire, and when thoroughly 
mixed add :— 
Nut oil. : . . 402s. 


(the original says “ or linseed oil”’). 


Mix and boil well for half an hour until it will “rope” (when touched 
with a stick) like thick syrup. After laying, the plate must be heated 
to harden the ground. From the same :— 


Soft ground.t Virginwax . : 5 2 O28. 
Burgundy pitch . $02. 
Common pitch . $02. 
Asphaltum : . 2028. 


The asphaltum is added last as in most recipes, stirring all the time over 
a fire. Care should be taken not to allow the mixture to boil over, as it 
may set the house on fire. When mixed thoroughly, pour into water and 
form into balls with the fingers. Warm water is advisable, as cold changes 
the temperature too suddenly. 

Nineteenth Century.—Koehler gives the following in his introduction 
(p. xv) to Lalanne’s treatise. 


Peter Moran’s ground. Best natural asphaltum (Egyptian) 2 ozs. 
Best white virgin wax . . ldozs. 
Burgundy pitch . , ee LLO7Z. 


He adds: ‘“‘ Nearly all recipes order the wax to be melted first, but as 
the asphaltum requires greater heat to reduce it to a fluid condition, it 
is best to commence with the least tractable substance.”’ Therefore the 
asphaltum is first melted, the wax added stirring all the time, and then 


1 This is Sir Frank Short’s ground, an extra 4 oz. of wax being added (as the book 
suggests for cold weather), j , | 


38 GROUNDS AND ‘“ GROUNDING” THE PLATE 


the pitch. The mixture should be allowed to boil up two or three times 
(with care) and then poured into tepid water. 

Transparent Ground.—From the same book as last (p. 63). This is 
identical with Hamerton’s! “ white ” ground (see “‘ Etching and Etchers ”’). 


White wax . : . 5 parts by weight. 
Gum mastic . 4 Le ee is 


The procedure is as before : the wax first melted, and then the powdered 
mastic stirred in gradually. 

Drawing through a transparent ground is always unsatisfying to an 
artist because so little result is apparent after the line has been put down ; 
and cross-hatching where regular strokes have to be laid parallel, and very 
close to, each other, is particularly irritating. Free work is impossible 
when one cannot see properly. Not only is it more difficult to see the 
new lines, but also the old (already bitten) ones, as the light-coloured wax 
does not cause them to show up nearly so well as does ordinary dark 
ground, thinly laid. I always use ordinary ground myself for all purposes. 
When working in the bath, however, the lines show up at once on a trans- 
parent ground as they begin to bite instantaneously. 

All vessels employed for mixing and heating should be scrupulously 
clean ; and for stirring, a glass rod is preferable, but this should be covered 
at the handle as it soon becomes very hot. IJ have found a damaged 
clinical thermometer very handy. It is advisable, in order to avoid 
burning, or cracking the vessel, to use a double saucepan, or to stand 
the pot in an old tin of water. 

The great difficulty in making grounds is to obtain the right sort of 
asphaltum. The best is the true Dead Sea asphaltum, which may be 
bought from specialist dealers or perhaps from a good chemist. But there 
is a great number of varieties with different properties, obtained from 
varlous countries. 

In two of the recipes are mentioned specifically “Syrian” and 
“ Egyptian’ asphaltums, and by these probably the Dead Sea variety 
is meant. 

Twentieth Century.—The best ground I know of personally is Rhind’s 
(see Chapter VII), and I can testify to its durability. I once drew on a 
plate in Benares which I considered of no account, and consequently left 
knocking about my etching room upon returning to Edinburgh for seven 
years. At the end of that time I bit it. And though (as was inevitable) 
there were several bad scratches—it had never been wrapped up for pro- 
tection—the lines bit perfectly without giving way anywhere. 

Mr. Joseph Pennell? gives his verdict in favour of an American maker, 
Weber and Co. (see Chapter VII), but of course the constituents of both 
these grounds are secrets of the trade. I have made ground in the old 
days and tried several others, but I have not found any so satisfactory 


1 See also McBey’s note (p. 348). 
2 « Ktchers and Etching,” p. 205. 


GROUNDS AND ‘“ GROUNDING” THE PLATE 39 


as Rhind’s, though I have no doubt there are others just as good, and 
probably identical in recipe. 

White Grounds.—Several white grounds have been invented in the past, 
and Mr. Hamerton described his method of working on white wax over a 
silvered plate. Mr. Kimber has advertised a white ground since the war ; 
but none of these attempts at making etching more positive in process are 
any great help to an etcher when once he has become accustomed to seeing 
his lines upon a copper, instead of a white, surface. 

Laying the Ground.—The old method of grounding a plate, which is 
still as good! as any, is to heat the copper until the ball of ground will 










Uy _ esse "MU iM wna "I 
| UTNE i 


. 
rr 


-————" 
SS 





Vie 


Fic. 5.—Plate upon electric heater: negative plug withdrawn. 


melt upon being rubbed gently on the margin (Fig. 5). In order to spread 
it equally over the entire surface as thinly and evenly as possible a 
““ dabber ”’ is necessary, which is made as follows: 

The “ Dabber.’’—A disc of cardboard rather less than 2 inches in dia- 
meter is cut ;! a bunch of horsehair placed on this, and over all a wad of 
cotton-wool. A piece of soft kid—a white kid-glove 
is admirable—being placed over the wadding, the 
bunched ends are held firmly in the left hand and 
whipped with string, beginning next the fingers and 
working towards the card. This gradually strains 
the leather tighter and tighter over the cotton-wool 
(which must be worked into shape) so that no 
folds are left over the front surface of the pad (see 
Fig. 6). The whole operation should not take more 
than five minutes, and the result be like a lady’s a 
powder-puff or a fair-sized mushroom. Fra. 6.—Dabber. 

Action of Dabbing.—With this the melted wax 
upon the plate is spread as quickly as possible over the whole surface by 
a rocking motion and the film gradually equalized by a very staccato, 
rapid, dabbing action from the wrist. 

A very little practice will enable the beginner to lay a perfectly work- 
manlike ground in a few minutes. The usual fault at first is to lay the 
wax too thickly, which prevents free needlework. 


1 See notes by Bauer and several others, Chap. XX VII, 





40 GROUNDS AND ‘ GROUNDING” THE PLATE 


Care must be taken to prevent the plate from becoming too hot. If 
the ground begins to bubble, the plate must be removed instantly from 
the heater, and it is easier, in any case, to obtain an even, textureless 
film as the plate cools. If the wax becomes too “tacky ”’ to be moved 
easily before the surface is equalized the plate is re-heated. This may be 
done as often as required, provided the ground is never scorched. 

After finishing with the dabber the cooling surface will have become 
dead-looking, and a final heating will still further smooth the ground by 
re-melting. It should be allowed to remain until the whole surface is 
shining brilliantly, but no longer, for fear of burning. 

Scorching.—If scorched—there is no risk of this with ordinary care— 
the ground will turn dull and will be brittle under the needle. It will 





Fic. 7.—Roller in special box to prevent contact with leather surface. 


also be permeable to the acid, and must be cleaned off and the work 
re-done. 

Dust.—Too much is generally made of the dangers of dust, but it is 
hardly necessary to say that the operation should be performed where 
there is as little as possible. When the skin of the dabber becomes worn, 
or too hard from the wax penetrating to the wool beneath, it should be 
removed, a little fresh wadding added (as some will stick to the kid) and 
a new covering put on. A pair of lady’s discarded long-sleeved gloves 
will provide sufficient kid for an etcher’s lifetime. 

The Roller.—A more modern implement for grounding is the roller. 
Its surface is covered with either leather or rubber ; but rubber is liable 
to tarnish copper if used on the heated metal and, further, cannot be used 
with paste-ground, as it is affected by the oil-of-lavender. 

Paste Ground.—Paste is made by dissolving ordinary ground in spike 
oil—oil-of-lavender—in the proportion of 1 of ground to 2 of oil. The 


GROUNDS AND “ GROUNDING” THE PLATE Al 


paste is first spread upon a second clean plate (or a sheet of glass) and 
taken up by the roller from this, in order to equalize the paste over its 
whole surface, and then rolled upon the plate to be grounded. This is 
done with cold plates, and the oil may be driven off by heating after- 
wards or left to evaporate—a slow business. I have never had any use 
for this method personally. 

Ordinary Ground Rolled.—The roller can be used with ordinary ground 
—merely taking the place of the dabber—and this is as good a way of 
grounding as any, provided that the plate is flat ; but when small passages 
have to be re-grounded for working over old lines, and particularly where 
the surface has been lowered by scraping, it is useless. Naturally the 
roller cannot drive the ground into and thoroughly fill the old lines as the 
dabber can; and I always prefer to use the implement which is equally 
suitable for all purposes. 

Those who have given up the dabber as old-fashioned say it is a slow 
process, but this only means that they are not accustomed to its use. 
Fig. 7 shows a leather-covered roller in a box contrived to prevent the 
grounding surface from touching anything when not in use. The cross- 
bar (a) in the lid clamps down over (6) the socket (into which the handle 
fits) when the box is shut, and keeps all rigid. 

Liquid Ground.—Still another method of grounding is by means of the 
same (ordinary ground) ingredients dissolved in chloroform or ether. This 
though a little more difficult to lay satisfactorily, makes by far the best 
ground to work upon. Rhind’s is, again, the best I have tried; but it 
is expensive, and so volatile that a good deal may be wasted if one is not 
very quick in its manipulation. 

The best way is to place the plate—the back must be clean also in this 
case—in a porcelain tray (such as one requires for the acid bath) resting 
against the bottom and left side (Fig. 8). Place a second bottle ready 
with a funnel in its neck, and in this a tuft of cotton-wool to act as a 


Wl 
Std 


b Bag ae 





D ee Drag 
Fic, 8.—Coating plate with liquid ground. 


42 GROUNDS AND “ GROUNDING” THE PLATE 


strainer for dust. Then remove the stopper from the ground-bottle ; tilt 
the tray up with the left hand and pour over the plate sufficient ground 
to cover the whole surface, always pouring from the top edge and with such 
force as will ensure the practically simultaneous flooding of the whole area. 
Immediately pour off the surplus liquid into the second bottle and replace 
the stopper of the first. The plate should remain tilted until the ground 
is almost dry in order to drain as much as possible to its edge, and also 
to prevent dust settling upon it while tacky. 

Dust is a greater bugbear in laying this ground than in any of the 
previous methods, as a speck will sometimes divert the stream of liquid 
down the plate, and as the drying is so rapid there is no remedy. It is 
for this reason (apart from loss by evaporation) that the ground requires 
to be flooded over the plate with some force. The great disadvantage of 
liquids is that they are useless for re-grounding over bitten lines, as these 
are never properly filled in the sluicing of the surface. 

There is (or was) a rather slower-drying ground made by Roberson 
and Co. which could be applied by means of a soft brush, and such a liquid 
is particularly valuable for making alterations in drawing on a plate. 
Mr. Pennell told me that he used it out of doors considerably. For many 
years J have used only the one solid ground and dabber for all purposes, 
but every etcher will choose for himself, and there can be no one way 
only for doing any of these things. 

For making liquid ground Hamerton advises dissolving in ether, letting 
the solution stand for three weeks, and then decanting the clear upper 
portion for use. 

Smoking.—The usual procedure when the plate is grounded and before 
it becomes quite cold (except in the last case, where no heat is required) 
is to smoke the surface in order to see the more clearly (when the needle 
lays bare the copper) against a blacker background. It may tend to 
strengthen! the ground to a small extent also, but, apart from this, I never 
could understand why such a troublesome, filthy business should be gone 
through. Personally I never smoke a plate for my own use, as Rhind’s 
ground is quite dark enough in itself to enable one to see perfectly. But 
if the beginner wishes to do it, a bunch of wax tapers should be twisted 
up together—from three to six—and the plate being held upside-down 
the lighted torch is passed backwards and forwards with the tip of the 
flame just touching the ground. It must never remain stationary in 
any spot, or scorching will result. 

When I had a class many years ago, in Paris, we used an ordinary oil 
lamp with the chimney removed. This, theoretically, gives too greasy a 
smoke, but we found it answer very well; and it is much quicker and 
cheaper than using tapers. In this case one naturally passes the plate 
across the flame of the lamp. The students used a lamp also in my class 
at Edinburgh College of Art. If the surface remains dull after smoking, 


* Carbon is not attacked by acid, but if the ground is good it should be already 
perfectly impervious ! 


GROUNDS AND “ GROUNDING” THE PLATE A3 


the plate must be heated (from the back) until the wax absorbs the soot ; 
but this often occurs during the smoking when a hot lamp is used. The 
carbon will rub off when the plate is cold if it has not been thoroughly 
incorporated with the ground, and a shining surface regained. Most 
etchers employ a hand-vice for holding the plate (Fig. 9), but it is not 


MTT ara 


SSAA SNES 


( = 
= A, 


, oe ermal, 





Fic. 9.—Hand-vice. 


necessary if the hand be protected by an old glove or even a rag. I have 
never owned a vice yet, and never feel the need for one, though I have 
provided them for students. If one is used, the jaws must be padded with 
card or paper, otherwise they will leave an ugly mark on the plate, which 
will print. One can see such marks on some of Whistler’s later etchings—a 
bad one at the foot of the “‘ Fruit Stall’ of the second Venice set ; but then 
Whistler, in spite of all that has been written to the contrary, was an extra- 
ordinarily careless craftsman in his later period, great artist notwithstanding. 

While cooling, the plate should be stood against a wall or box, face 
wards, to prevent any dust that may be in the air from settling upon it. 

Stopping-out Varnishes.—For protecting the back of the plate, before 
placing it in the acid bath, and also for painting over lines which have 
been sufficiently bitten, a liquid ground of some sort must be used with 
a brush, and as the etching ground is far too costly for such a purpose, 
some other varnish must be found. By far the best I know, and the 
cheapest, is a straw-hat polish called ‘‘ Tower-brand,” which is made by 
Messrs. Hall and Dunbar, of Leith; but I have no doubt that there are 
other makes practically identical, and the bottles are cheap enough to 
buy for the sake of experiment. 

It dries almost instantaneously ; is thick enough not to spread up a 
line by capillary attraction (the danger of too thin a liquid), and is imper- 
vious to acid. Brunswick black has been suggested and various similar 
compounds ; but the worst thing I know is the usual stopping-out varnish 
sold by dealers. It takes too long to dry, and is generally too thick and 
unmanageable. 

Transparent Varnish.—For a transparent varnish, white resin dissolved 
in alcohol is good, but it is very difficult to see what one has stopped out. 

Shellac and Pigment.—A stopping-out varnish recipe used by the “ half 
tone”’ process etchers is as follows! :— 


Shellac : ; : . Aozs. 
Methylated spirit . : . 8ozs. 
Methyl-violet dye . d . 2drachms. 


1 The “Tower brand” is probably much the same. Shellac, methylated spirit 
and a black pigment. 


AA GROUNDS AND “ GROUNDING” THE PLATE 


(To this is added, if required, linseed oil $ oz. to every pint of varnish. 
Also, for still slower drying, a little oil of lavender, in addition.) 
Bitumen.—A more expensive varnish, used by photogravure process 
etchers, 1s :— 
Bitumen (asphaltum) . . 1 part. 
Benzol* ~*. . 5 parts. 


Shellac.—For backing plates the “ half tone ” etchers use :— 
Methylated spirit and shellac . . equal parts. 


These last varnishes are generally used for resisting perchloride of iron. 
A similar commercial recipe is as follows :— 


Mastic . 2 parts. 
Shellac : : LO ae 
Turpentine . : ; ; ys ae 
Spirits of wine. OUR 


An Early Recipe.—From the previously mentioned “‘ History and Art 
of Engraving,” one finds out what the old etchers had to use :— 


Tallow . $b. 
Olive oil . 1 wineglass. 
Lamp-black . : . 1 spoonful. 


Stir together over a fire until well incorporated with each other. Boil 
ten or twelve minutes. I should not advise this ! 

But if one can buy a bottle of hat-polish, which answers perfectly, there 
is no need to bother about such mixtures, and I doubt whether this last 
would resist a strong nitric bath, probably being used with the much 
milder mordants in vogue at that time. 

Hamerton’s.—In “‘ Etching and Etchers,’’ Hamerton suggests the fol- 
lowing as the “ most perfect stopping-out varnish yet invented ”’ (1876) :-— 

A saturated solution of white-wax in ether. When the clear liquid 
remaining after the wax has settled has been decanted, one-sixth of its 
volume of Japan varnish is added, and well mixed. 

This sounds very good, but then we are not told the constituents of 
the Japan varnish or its consistency ; and this varnish varies considerably. 


CHAPTER V 
POINTS, SCRAPERS, BURNISHERS AND GRAVERS 


THE kind of needle a student should use is entirely a matter of his own 
choice. If he wishes to etch huge plates like Piranesi or Brangwyn, he 
will naturally select a somewhat larger instrument than were he endeavour- 
ing to copy an early head by Rembrandt ! There can be no law laid down 
on the subject : what suits one master is anathema to another. 

Probably the oldest form of point, and one frequently used by several 
great moderns, is made by taking an unbending steel needle and jamming 
it into a wood holder—the handle of a pen or small brush—leaving 4 inch 
to 2 inch projecting. Sealing-wax is then melted over the end of the 
holder and formed by the fingers into a smooth cone half-way up the 





Fic. 10.—Needle in wood handle. Fie. 11.—Kchoppe. 


needle (Fig. 10). The earliest etchers largely used the échoppe (Fig. 11), 
the shape of the point (cut at a bevel) enabling them to make a line which 
swelled and tapered, thus imitating that of the burin. 

Another form is the all-steel point preferred—possibly invented—by 
Whistler, which can _ be -— 
bought nowadays at any SSL al mee r 
wae dealer (Fig. 12). Ele Tete Re 
Fig. 13 is a similar tool with a rectangular hand-grip, and one end rounded 
in order to act as a small 
burnisher. 

A more serviceable weapon 
than either (to my mind) is Fig. 14, which watchmakers and jewellers 
use. The great advantage of such a 
point is that it can be readily sharp- 
ened, as the shank is of equal dia- 
meter along its entire length ; whereas 
Figs. 12 and 13 soon lose their acute angle when sharpened (unless the 
. grindstone is used to wear away the whole 
es hohe tle shank) and become like Fig. 15. This 
Fa. 15.—Blunted point. happens still more rapidly when the draw- 
ing is done in the acid, which soon bites away the steel ; and a very obtuse- 
angled needle means a very broad line, unless the point is kept too sharp 


45 














Si 


=~ me NN NN SNUNEVAR ASTIN SANG Bay CY 
Fic. 13.—Point combined with burnisher. 





type for etching. 





46 POINTS, SCRAPERS, BURNISHERS AND GRAVERS 


for perfect freedom. With a tool shaped such as Fig. 14, this broadening, 
as the point is pushed back, cannot take place at all. 

Fig. 16 is another easily 
obtained tool used by en- 
gineers, and is sold with a 

Fia. 16. sheath. 

The form of point which I prefer personally, especially for carrying in 
the pocket, is another engineers’ tool made by the L. 8. Starrett Co., 
Athol, Mass., U.S.A. The same kind of instrument is annie made by 
various other firms in many - ; 
countries (Fig. 17). It consists ri i i 
of a screw holder and loose steel Fia. 17. —A ean? Fite or cara 
point which is reversible when needle. 
not in use. As sold, the point is too long for drawing, but I succeeded in 
inducing Mr. Kimber to have shorter ones made, which he sells separately. 
The grip is excellent for drypoint. Several etchers utilize gramophone 
needles.? 

Whether broad or fine, an etching needle should be blunt and perfectly 
round, so that the hand may move in any direction without the point 
catching in the metal. 

After sharpening to the required size on a stone, the best way to ensure 
a smooth, rounded point is to take hold of the needle some way up the 
shank and describe circles with it upon some rough surface such as the 
slightly corrugated iron travelling-bed of the press, making the circum- 
ferences of the circles as wide as possible at first and gradually lessening 
them (by raising the hand) until the needle is nearly vertical and the 
circles very small. This wears off the irregular facets of the sharpened 
steel, and any degree of bluntness can be obtained without angularity. 

Drypoints.—There is no need to keep a special type of tool for drypoint, 
as Hig. 17 is quite a perfect weapon for this purpose and various points 
may be fitted to the same holder. Several heavier and (I think) clumsier 
instruments are sold by dealers, however, such as the so-called “‘ Haden ” 
drypoint (Fig. 18), 
which, as _ usually 
made, has no grip 
and is terrible to 
sharpen because of its enormous thickness. It can, of course, be whipped 
with twine to afford better hold for the fingers; but why waste time 
supplying deficiencies which would not exist if the maker had exercised 
care ¢ The “ Whistler’ needle makes an excellent drypoint. The dry- 
point must be whetted to a cutting point, either round or flat ; but with 
the latter great care must be taken to hold the needle so that the edge 
is in line with the direction of the desired stroke, otherwise it will slide 
off at another angle, or else plough a broad shallow furrow. 

The late William Strang invented a hooked point which he pulled 

1 See notes by McBey and Percy Smith, pp. 348 and 354. 

















Fic. 18.—So-called “‘ Haden.” A clumsy type Phair 


POINTS, SCRAPERS, BURNISHERS AND GRAVERS 47 


instead of pushing like the graver, but the preference for such a weapon 
is very much a personal matter. 

Jewel Points.—A very useful tool is the diamond or ruby point. 
Although the jewels are but small they are naturally expensive, but with 
care will last a lifetime. They are sold let into steel sockets which can 
be mounted as the buyer wishes, either in wooden or metal handles. 

I use a modification of the tool (Fig. 17), which cannot be bought (so 
far as I know), but is . 4 . 
easily made (Fig. 19). A <muu Jum 
thread is cut on the shank 
of the diamond socket (a): 
and a corresponding one cut out of the inside of the holder (6), also 
a second thread cut on the point end of the socket (c). We then have a 
reversible point. The original screw of the holder opening at (d) is not in 
use at all, but can still be utilized if required with the ordinary steel 
point. This tool can also be carried safely in the pocket without fear 
of damaging the diamond. 

The jewel is usually cut to a round point, either more or less obtuse, 
and the longer and more delicately shaped, the more liable to flake off 
if used carelessly on heavy lines. 

The chief value of these tools is their extraordinary freedom in com- 
parison with steel. It is not very safe to employ one for throwing up as 
much “ burr ”’ as the metal point can readily do ; and the quality of line 
when the “ burr ” is removed approximates closely to that of etching. 

In light passages, where great freedom is required, it will be found 
invaluable, as it can move quite as easily as the etching needle, and has 
an even pleasanter grip on the plate. 

Before proceeding to the drawing and biting of the plate, it will be as 
well to break the logical sequence in order to describe the remaining steel 
tools which are of real importance. 

The Scraper.—The scraper is used to pare off the surface of the plate 
when a correction has to be made; and to remove the “ burr ”’ in dry- 
point where necessary. Itis a three-sided stiletto, each face being hollowed 
except at the point. A good oil-stone is required to keep it sharp, and 





Fic. 19.—The Author’s diamond point—reversible. 





Fic. 20.—Scraper, for making alterations and removing “ burr.” 


each face must be held flat on the stone while rubbing. A long cork should 
be kept to protect the tip of the tool, with a suspicion of oil to prevent 
rusting (Fig. 20). 

Rust.—None of these implements should be left exposed in a room where 
acid has been recently used, or much time will be wasted in removing rust. 


1 See note by Muirhead Bone, p. 332. 
y, p 


48 POINTS, SCRAPERS, BURNISHERS AND GRAVERS 


Action of Hand.—In scraping, one of the sides of the tool is placed flat 
upon the plate and then tilted just enough to shave off the metal when 
moved forward, with a slight downward pull. The grip is with the first 
and second fingers and thumb, the hand sliding on the nail of the little 
finger. This enables the angle of the hand, and consequently the angle of 





Fic. 21.—Finger grip in scraping. 


the scraper, to be kept absolutely constant. All direction should_be con- 
trolled entirely from the elbow (Fig. 21). 

The Burnisher.—The burnisher is merely a highly polished, flat tool with 
rounded angles which is used with or without oil to remove roughness and 





Fic. 22.—Burnisher—good pattern. 


scratches. It is the india-rubber of the copper. The commonly made tool 
is straight and far less serviceable than the curved instrument (Fig. 22), 
which is made entirely of steel with differently shaped ends: one round, 
the other flattened. It will be seen at a glance why this is superior to the 





Fia. 23.—Showing advantage of burnisher having bent handle. 


straight wooden-handled affair which can never be placed flat on the plate 
except near one edge (Fig. 23). 

The Graver.—The burin or graver is, properly, the line-engraver’s 
weapon, but a very useful though not an essential tool for the etcher 
(Figs. 24, 25). 

By its aid a line or two may be added here and there without the 


POINTS, SCRAPERS, BURNISHERS AND GRAVERS 49 


necessity for re-grounding and re-biting ; and the quality of this line com- 
bines far better with that of etching than does that produced by the dry- 
point ; and is, besides, more durable, as the graver does not merely displace 
the metal in its passage, but removes it completely. 

It is by no means every plate which will require its use, but as a reserve 





Fic. 24.—Home-made Burin. 24 a.—Enlarged point. 


tool it is very valuable. The accompanying figure (Fig. 244) shows one 
type of point, enlarged, as seen from the under side, as well as a home- 
made burin which originally came from a “ process ”’ engraver. 

Fig. 25 shows a modern design which balances well. In this case the 





Fic. 25.—Well-balanced Burin. 


diamond-shaped steel is cut straight through in sharpening with no 
bevelling of the lower angles. 

Roulettes and similar mechanical dotted-line-making instruments are 
an abomination in etching, though they may be legitimately useful in 
mezzotint (see Chapter XIV, Fig. 49, C, D and EH, p. 135). 


CHAPTER VI 
MORDANTS 


Fifteenth Century.—From Mrs. Merrifield’s translation of the MSS. of 
Jehan le Begue, 1431, in “‘ The Original Treatises of the Arts of Painting ”’ 
(1849) :-— 

(1) P. 76, par. 63— 

‘“To make a water which corrodes iron: take 1 oz. of salammoniac, 
1 oz. of roche alum, 1 oz. of sublimed silver (argento sublimato), 1 oz. of 
Roman vitriol. Pound them well. 

“Take a glazed earthen vase ; pour into it equal parts of vinegar and 
water, then throw in the above-mentioned articles. Boil the whole until 
reduced to a cup or half a cup, and apply it to such parts of the iron as 
you may wish to corrode.” 

(2) Par. 64 (for the same purpose)— 

“Take Roman vitriol and Euphorbia and distil them.” 


No. 1. Salammoniac = Ammonium chloride. 
Roche alum = Ordinary alum (sulphates of aluminium and 
potassium). 
Roman vitriol= Ferrous sulphate or proto-sulphate of iron. 


Argento sublimato cannot be identified as no sublimate of silver is 
possible, but the presence of silver or of any of its compounds would 
undoubtedly set up an electrolytic action which would promote the attack 
of the metal by the mordant. This will certainly be a very weak one, 
and its action will be due to the acetic acid (vinegar) reinforced by small 
quantities of hydrochloric and sulphuric acids derived from the decom- 
position by water of the ammonium chloride on the one hand and the 
alum and iron sulphate on the other. The setting up of the electrolytic 
action by the silver will cause the iron to be much more rapidly attacked, 
however. 

No. 2. The euphorbia (spurge) probably had nothing to do with the 
chemical result. Sulphate of iron being heated in a retort, Nordhausen 
sulphuric acid distils over. This would be quite enough to bite the plate. 

Hither of the foregoing mordants may have been used by Diirer in 
etching his iron plates. Nitric and sulphuric acids were known at least 
as far back as the eighth century in Europe; and even if the armourers 
of Diirer’s time did not use nitric, or know of hydrochloric, in all proba- 
bility they obtained the aid of these acids (possibly without knowing it) 
by the addition to sulphuric of such salts as potassium nitrate (saltpetre) 
and sodium chloride (common salt), which would set free nitric and 


50 


MORDANTS al 


hydrochloric acids respectively. (In Holland and Germany nitric is still 
called “saltpetre acid’: the name used by Marius Bauer in writing to 
me of his mordant. See p. 326.) 

Seventeenth Century.—The following is from the translation? of Bosse’s 
treatise. I use the translation because it shows exactly what the British 
etchers were told at the time. In the original,? Bosse says that this was 
given to him by Callot :— 


White-wine vinegar (distilled is better) . me osparte.3 
Clear white salt armoniack . : ; OTOZS: 
Bay salt (original sel commun) . 6 ozs. 
Vert de Griz : ; : F : ee OY AP 


Put them into a covered pot over a quick fire, and let the mixture boil 
up two or three times. Let it stand stopped a day or two before use. 
If too strong, pour into it a glass of the same vinegar. 

Here the acetic acid and ammonium chloride are again present, and 
probably it is their action which largely constitutes the biting power.* 

Bay salt indicates ordinary sea-salt which was obtained from the Bay 
of Biscay very largely, and in this case we have a definitely stated second 
chloride. It is therefore probable that in the older recipe the silver salt 
was also a chloride. 

The mordant given by Bosse for use with the ordinary ground (his soft 
ground) is :— 

Vitriol (sulphuric acid). 
Saltpetre (nitrate of potassium). 
Alum (alun de roche). 


I only discovered this after a chemist had described the probability of 
an admixture of sulphuric acid with saltpetre being used in Diirer’s day, 
and here we have actual evidence of it in Rembrandt’s time, at any rate. 
Unfortunately, Bosse does not consider it necessary to give details of its 
preparation or proportions, as he says “it can be bought from the 
Refiners.”’ It was called, he adds, eau de départ, being employed com- 
monly by the refiners in separating gold from copper or silver. Bosse’s 
third of water to the acid is condemned by his eighteenth-century editor, 
Cochin, as being too strong a mordant, and he advocates half water and 
half eau forte. This mixture was used in the modern manner by pouring 
on the plate, the edges of which were banked up with bordering-wax ; 
whereas the weak vinegar-salammoniac bath was poured over the plate 
with a jug, the copper resting (nearly vertical) in a wooden trough on a 
sort of easel. At the bottom of this trough was a hole which allowed the 


1 “The History and Art of Engraving,” 4th edition, 1770. 

2 “ Traicté des maniéres de graver,”’ 1645, (p. 9.) 

3 In the original, 3 pints, which makes all the difference. 

4 One theory is that it is the acetic acid which releases the hydrochloric acid in a 
small quantity from the chlorides, but only chemists can decide upon these points. 


52 MORDANTS 


liquid to return to a basin below, from which it was again scooped up. 
A most tedious business! This was to keep the weak mordant in motion, 
replacing spent acid by fresh. 
Hollar, writing in England at about the same period, is still less explicit. 
His mordant is 2 parts wine-vinegar to 1 part aqua fortis at 3d. per oz. 
Dutch Mordant.—The “ Dutch Bath ’’! is as follows :— 


Water . : : . 880 grammes. 
Pure hydrochloric acid. 100. 
Potassium chlorate . : Pore 20 weer 


The quickest method of making this up is to dissolve the chlorate in 
hot water in a saucepan, allowing it to cool sufficiently before pouring into 
the glass-stoppered bottle and adding the acid. 

This is a very weak bath and is usually heated to about 80° Fahr., when 
it attacks much more quickly. 

Smillie’s Bath.—The following is the bath which I use. It is taken from 
the English edition (1880) of Lalanne’s treatise. The proportions (given 
to Mr. Koehler by the American etcher J. D. Smillie) are easy to arrive 
at. I make up twelve times the amount in an 80-oz. bottle (say, 60, 12 
and 24 ozs. respectively) :— 


Water . : : . 5 Oz. 
Muriatic (hydrochloric) acid LOZ: 
Potassium chlorate . : . $02. 


Smillie used even this bath heated to 80° or 90° Fahr. When cold it is 
very slow. 

Action of Dutch Bath.—In this case the acid attacking the chlorate sets 
free chloric acid, but this chloric acid in the presence of free hydrochloric 
acid gives rise to chlorine and oxides of chlorine, which are the true biting 
agents, and attack the metal without the evolution of gas. 

This 1s one of the important differences between this 
mordant and the single acid bath: nitric. 

In the use of nitric acid, bubbles form in the lines as the gas is evolved, 
and unless constantly swept away (by means of a feather) will interrupt 
the action, and slightly broken or dotted lines result in the proof. 

Lines Darkened.—Dutch mordant generally darkens the lines (not 
always), but with an unsmoked ground they are quite easy to see. I 
believe this to be due to a slight sediment, as, if the bath be set in motion 
the lines begin to brighten. Also there is no permanent darkening of the 
metal. 

Mr. Mortimer Menpes once told me that Whistler very frequently began 
biting with this acid (probably the Haden proportions, see below), and, 


‘ 


“compound ” 


1 This bath was possibly invented by Haden. He was certainly one of the first 
to use it. It was almost certainly unknown prior to 1850. 


MORDANTS 53 


after the lines had been well started, went on with nitric. This is certainly 
a very sound method, as the slow-eating “‘ Dutch ”’ mordant attacks much 
more equally all widely spaced and delicate lines which are apt to be 
ignored by the more vigorous nitric. On the other hand, it is much more 
liable to cause foul-biting, as it penetrates, insidiously, the slightest flaw 
in the ground, and this cannot be detected until the wax is removed. In 
the case of nitric one can see the bubbles. 

Reversing the above order, if one finds that the ground is in danger 
of breaking up under the widening effect of nitric it will be safer to carry 
on with the hydrochloric bath. 

Haden’s Mordants.—The following baths are given by Mr. Hamerton! 
as those which were used by Seymour Haden about 1880, and characterized 
as slow but safe :— 


For Copper. 

Nitrous acid . ddf Hydrochloric acid . 20 
Water . 66% Chlorate of potash . 3 
—— Water . ee ith 
100 — 
100 

For Zine. 
Nitric acid 2 ae Hydrochloric acid . 10 
Water : ee) Chlorate of potash . 2 
—— Water .  ezets! 
100 —— 
100 


Nitrous and Nitric.—Nitrous acid is rather weaker than nitric, other- 
wise bites and is treated identically. 

Nitric acid is used by myself with an equal quantity of water (equal 
volume, not weight); but many prefer a weaker bath, such as 3 parts 
acid to 5 parts water, or Haden’s 4 acid to % water, quoted above. 

For zinc a weaker acid is always advisable, but these strengths are 
varied by every etcher,? and it is largely a matter of temperament. 

In preparing the mixture the water should not be poured into the acid, 
or the heat generated may conceivably crack the bottle. The water should 
be measured and first poured into the bottle, then the acid added. It 
should never be stoppered until the mixture has had time to cool ; neither 
should it be used until cold. The acid should be of about 40° strength 
on the French hydrometer, or of a specific gravity of 1.42, as bought. It 
is well to hold in reserve some of the neat acid for extra strong biting 
at the end of the work. 

The mixture will be a little too vicious in its attack until it has 

1 In “Etching and Etchers,”’ he describes the Dutch mordant as “ recently 
discovered,” but does not mention Haden’s name, which he probably would have 
done if Haden had been its inventor. 

2 See Blampied’s ‘“ Loading Sea-weed,” p. 351; also notes by Bauer, McBey, etc., 
Chap. XXVIL. 


54 MORDANTS 


had some copper added to it, and filings or a fragment of the metal should 
be thrown in. After the first making some of the exhausted acid can 
always be mixed with the new: sufficient to colour it a pale green. 

Iron Perchloride.—A mordant commonly used by process-etchers is 
perchloride of iron, which bites very sweetly and evenly. It also seem- 
ingly darkens the lines while biting, but they are not permanently dis- 
coloured. Its chief drawback when employed by artists is that its action 
causes a sediment (or deposit of iron oxide) to form at the bottom of the 
line, which interferes with the biting. 

Process workers avoid this choking by usually biting the plates upside- 
down, when the sediment falls out of the lines, as formed ; but this implies 
working by time only, without the possibility of judging the depth by 
watching it in the bath. There is no evolution of gas perceptible. 

Artists rarely use this bath, apparently, probably for the above 
reason.+ 

The solution kept by chemists (as medicine) is about 1 in 4, 
which is too weak for rapid etching ; but perchloride crystals may 
be bought and dissolved in water to any degree of strength desired. 
The process-etchers usually judge their strength by means of the 
hydrometer—the French pése-acide (Fig. 26)—and a good biting 
strength should be between 25° and 30°, taking the saturated 
solution as 45°. The lines are moderately widened. It was 
suggested to me that an admixture of hydrochloric acid (say 10 
per cent) would dissolve the iron oxide deposit and prevent fouling 
of the lines. I have tried this, but it needs a number of careful 
experiments to make sure in such a matter. It could in any case 
do no harm, and if this drawback were overcome, perchloride of 
iron would be a most excellent mordant. 

Acetic Acid.—Another acid which is invaluable, and the use of 
which one does not find in textbooks, is acetic. Ordinary com- 
mercial acid is best—not “ glacial,’ which is too strong—and it is 
used undiluted. The B.P. acetic acid (commercial) is about 30 per 
cent strength. Its function is to remove impurities—particularly those 
deposited by the moist hand in drawing on the plate—which may have 
collected in the lines, so forming a temporary “ acid-resist ’’ which will 
cause fatal irregularity in the biting. 

Ordinary acetic acid has so little effect upon copper that one may leave 
the plate in the bath indefinitely, but five minutes or so should be fully 
long enough, unless the plate is in a bad mess. 

After the treatment the acetic may be poured back into the bottle 
without removing the plate from the bath, and the mordant poured on 
instead. There is no need to wash the plate in between. 

This freeing of the lines from the perspiration salts, etc., is particularly 
necessary when a plate has been worked upon for several days, as without 
the action of acetic the most recently drawn parts are almost certain to 


1 See note by McBey, p. 348, and by Benson, p. 328. 





Fig. 26. 


MORDANTS 55 


begin biting before those passages drawn earlier. This is especially fatal 
when an early-drawn piece of shading has been recrossed towards the close 
of the work, in which case these last lines will jump ahead of the rest of 
the tone they are part of; as even when there has been no sweat 
from the hand, the slight oxidation from the atmosphere is sufficient 
to make a difference. The action of the acetic brightens up all the 
lines as if they had been only just drawn and permits the mordant 
to reach them all immediately, and, what is more important, simul- 
taneously. 

Vinegar and Salt.—Good vinegar should prove an efficient substitute, 
especially if a little common salt be added. I have recently learnt that 
this (rather with acetic acid) is precisely what ‘ process ”’ etchers use for 
cleaning the work before biting with perchloride of iron. It is what was 
advised earlier in the book for removing tarnish. 

Bottles.—By far the best receptacle for acid is the French laboratory 
bottle. Other than my own, I have never seen one in this country, though 
I imagine that they must be employed in scientific workshops ; but they 
are certainly not known to the dealers, ae 
which is a pity. I bought my first in Paris 
in 1907 for seven francs, and another in 
1922 for twelve francs, which, considering 
the then rate of exchange, was even cheaper 
(Fig. 27). This bottle has very great advan- 
tages : it pours exactly ; prevents any liquid 
which may remain on the lip from running 
down on to the table; supplies its own 
funnel for returning liquid to the bottle ; 
and is air tight. —— eT 

The neck (a) is wide enough to forma ,,, 94 on er. 





funnel, and into its base fits a movable spout —a preat Snot Seer ue 
with a lip for exact pouring (b). At the 
base of this tube and at the opposite side to the lip is a groove (c) which 
allows any drops that run down from the lip in pouring to return to the 
bottle. Over all fits a glass cap (d) with ground sides, It is a remarkably 
ingenious contrivance, and saves much trouble. 
Warnings which cannot be insisted upon too strongly may as well 

come here :— 

1. Label all bottles legibly. 

2. Keep acids and other poisons out of reach of children. 


Whatever the shape, all acid bottles must be providedwith glass-stoppers. 
In this country no druggist may sell acid in an ordinary white smooth- 
sided bottle. The law now insists upon a ribbed, blue bottle, so that both 
feel and colour may warn the user of the nature of the contents. But 
this blue glass is a nuisance for keeping mixed mordants, as it is very 
necessary to see the colour of the acid in order to judge of its strength. 


56 MORDANTS 


The more copper taken up the deeper the green colour until, eventually, 
it becomes a rich peacock blue in the case of nitric. 

When the colour becomes very dark, the biting force of the acid will 
be nearly exhausted—the result being under-bitten lines if the biting has 
been gauged by time—and most of it should be thrown away, keeping a 
little, as before mentioned, for taking the edge off the new acid. 

The more concentrated the acid, the more quickly it attacks and exhausts 
uself. Pure nitric when placed on metal will boil furiously for a moment, 
when a blue-green salt will be formed and the action entirely cease ; while 
the same amount of acid mixed with an equal bulk of water will continue 
biting steadily for a long time. Within reason, therefore, the weaker the 
acid, the cleaner, smoother-sided line it will bite ; while the stronger the 
acid, the coarser, rougher-edged line will result. 

Dutch and Nitric Lines Compared.—The action of strong nitric tends to 
push back the sides of the trench it is forming, undermining the ground 
which floats off into the bath. This means that, even if a delicate point 
be used in drawing in the first place, the strongly bitten line will be broad 
as well as deep. 

The Dutch mordant, on the other hand, having no “ boiling ” action, 
does not break up the wax at the edges of the lines to the same extent, 
and only begins to eat sideways after penetrating beneath the surface. 

Hence one obtains a comparatively narrow line with considerable weight 
of ink in the heavily bitten parts, as the trench is deeper in proportion to 

x : a a the width at the orifice. Allowing for 
considerable exaggeration, (a) and (b) 
in Fig. 28 illustrate the section of lightly 
and strongly bitten nitric lines ; while (c) 
and (d) the corresponding Dutch bath result. Perchloride widens the 
lines rather more than the Dutch mordant, if anything. 

Dishes.—The use of a tray during the biting for placing the plate in 


rages Us 
Fic. 28.—Nitric and ‘‘ Dutch ”’ 
lines in section. 








Fic. 29.—Method of lowering plate into acid. 


bodily (instead of banking up the edges with green wax) probably dates 
from the very end of the seventeenth century. (See p. 66.) 

For this purpose any kind of dish with a glazed or varnished surface, 
which is unaffected by acids, will serve. It is quite possible to make one 


MORDANTS 57 


at home, with wood protected by stopping-out varnish, melted beeswax 
being first run into the joints. But the most suitable dishes are those 
used by photographers, of porcelain or papier-mdché, the latter being 
beautifully light but less durable. It is as well to buy one sufficiently 
large to take any plate one is likely to etch. 

In order to avoid splashing when placing the plate in the bath, I use 
an old tooth-brush handle filed to a flat chisel-edge. The plate is placed 
against one wall of the tray on edge (Fig. 29) and the upper edge sup- 
ported by the bone handle, which lowers it gently down into the acid. 

Another method is to lower the plate into the bath by means of string 
under the upper end ; leaving this beneath while the work is going on, 
and using it in the same way for removing the plate (Fig. 30). 





Fic. 30.—Lowering plate by means of string. 


This is both more risky and messy. The string is rotted in time and 
may snap ; and if it does, everything near the bath will be splashed with 
corrosive. Also, the ends of the string, once saturated, are apt to carry 
the acid over on to the table by capillary attraction. 

Ammonia.—It is well to have a bottle of liquid ammonia handy for 
application to any spots of acid which may get on to one’s clothes. 

Overalls.—If one uses an overall (on which spots do not matter), the 
sleeves should be either quite short or quite tight-fitting. Otherwise they 
will constantly interfere with one’s work. It1is quite possible, for instance, 
to dip one’s sleeve in the acid without being aware of it, and then to rest 
the material upon an unprotected plate! Also a full blouse sleeve will 
be always catching on the edge of the plate, especially in printing. 

Acid on Clothes and Fingers.—Next to a strong alkali like ammonia, 
water is the best thing to counteract the effect of acid. If the hand begins 
to tickle violently, it should be dipped into water; but for clothes an 
alkali is necessary to neutralize the acid instantaneously. This may save 
the colour of the cloth, if one is quick enough. 

Rubber Gloves.—Nitric acid roughens and yellows the skin, but unless 
rubber gloves or finger-stalls are used this must be put up with; and no 
genuine enthusiast ever minds such trifles. 

Fumes from Acids.—Fumes from the hydrochloric and chloric acids are 
as nothing when compared with those from a strong nitric bath where a 
large area of metal is exposed. My present etching room is very small, 


58 MORDANTS 


and the effect of these gases 1s very noticeable even at a distance from 
the bath; but I shall never forget how near I was to suffocation from 
nitric fumes when I bit my first plate. This was because, in my anxiety 
to see what was happening, I leant right over the bath; and the plate 
was being over-bitten to a hopeless extent. Once the fumes get down into 
the lungs it is no joke—probably similar to, though milder than, the 
mustard gas used in modern “ civilized ” warfare—and I strongly advise 
a beginner to avoid breathing in more than can be helped. Of course, it 
is only in very fierce bitings that real fumes are given off, but when they 
are—they can be seen readily enough, slightly orange in colour—look out ! 
If coughing begins, drink water,' and open the windows. 

In order to stop the acid’s action in biting, either plunge the plate bodily 
into water—warm water is better in cold weather, as it keeps the ground 
from becoming brittle—or dry it off with blotting-paper and then rinse 
under the tap. If the plate is not washed, the stopping-out varnish will 
refuse to stick to the ground properly. 

There is also a slight danger of continued action in the lines. 


1 Better still. A little carbonate of soda in water, and breathe weak ammonia. 
In the case of chlorine gas, Hamerton cites milk as an antidote. 


CHAPTER VII 
A LIST OF MATERIALS AND TOOLS AND WHERE TO OBTAIN THEM 


The following list contains all the necessary implements for working in 
the several branches of etching and drypoint, together with many which 
are usually considered, but which are not, necessary :— 


For Grinding and Polishing the Plate. 


Snakestone (Water-of-Ayr). Tool and instrument maker or 
etcher’s dealer. 
Charcoal (hard and soft). Etcher’s dealer. 


Plate powders, choice of : Crocus, 
emery, putty, pumice, rotten- 
stone, rouge, slate, Tripoli, etc. 

Plate polishes: ““Brasso,” “Globe,” Drysalter or grocer. 
etc. 


Tool and instrument maker or 
etcher’s dealer. 


Oil-rubber. Home-made. 
Sand and emery papers, coarse and _Drysalter. 
fine. 
Oils : Olive, sperm, machine. Grocer, chemist, bicycle or sewing- 
machine shop. 
Turpentine, pure. Artists’ colour-maker. 
Ae commercial Drysalter or oil shop. 
Methylated spirit s 
Benzoline or naphtha choice of. He 
Benzine (benzol) Chemist. 
Petrol Motor garage. 
Oilstone (Washita, Arkansas, Ironmonger or tool-maker. 
Turkey). 
Whitening, ordinary. Drysalter. 
a fine. Etcher’s dealer or chemist. 
Ammonia (liquid). Chemist. 
Caustic soda (for removing dried a 


ink from lines). 
Hammer and anvil (for beating up) Etcher’s dealer or tool-maker. 
Callipers (for same). 


Oil-can. Cycle shop. : 
Vinegar and salt. The home. 
Files, coarse and fine (both flat). Ironmonger. 


Shaving-brush (cheap, not badger). Hairdresser. 
59 


60 


Plates, copper or zinc. 


For Grounding the Plate. 


Ground: Black, transparent,liquid, 
5 Paste. 


i White. 


Stopping-out varnish. 

Straw-hat polish (black), Tower 
Brand. 

Resin (white) for transparent var- 
nish. 

Shellac. 

Pitch : Burgundy or black. 

Gum mastic. 

Asphaltum (bitumen) (Dead Sea). 


Wax (white). 
Tallow (for soft ground). 
Alcohol, chloroform, ether (solvents). 


Dabber (kid, cotton-wool, horse- 
hair). 

Dust-box (for aquatint ground). 

Hand-vice. 

Tapers (wax). 


MATERIALS AND TOOLS 


Etcher’s dealer. Any process-block 
maker will supply name of whole- 
sale house if not able to sell, him- 
self, direct. 


W. Y. Rhind, 69, Gloucester Road, 
Regent’s Park, London, N.W. 1. 
F. Weber and Co., 1125, Chestnut 
Street, Philadelphia, U.S.A. 
Or etcher’s dealer. 

W. C. Kimber, Tankerton Street 
Works, Cromer Street, London, 
WiGels 

Hall and Dunbar, Leith, Scotland, 
or similar make from ironmonger, 
etc. 

Drysalter or chemist. 


Chemist. 

vi Messrs. Penrose, 109, Far- 
ringdon Road, London, 
E.C. 1, supply it. 


- Or drysalter. 
n (if reason for use can be 
shown). 
Home-made. 


Etcher’s dealer or home-made. 
“5 ,, or tool-maker. 


99 99 


For Drawing and Working on the Plate. 


Light-screen (wood frame and 
architect’s tracing paper). 

Points (steel). 

Scraper and burnisher. 

Graver (burin). 

Diamond or ruby points. | 

Tools specially made for mezzotint : 


scrapers, rocker, burnishers, etc. f 


Hand-rest (for soft ground). 


Home-made. 


Etcher’s dealer or instrument maker 


Etcher’s dealer. 


Home-made, 


MATERIALS AND TOOLS 61 
For Drawing and Working on the Plate. 


Reversible engineer’s pointers. 


Steel points (for same). 

Transfer papers. 

Chinese white (in tube). 

Brushes (camel-hair or fitch), 
several sizes. . 


For Biting the Plate. 


Acids : Nitric or nitrous. 
Hydrochloric (muriatic). | 
Perchloride of iron. r 
Acetic. 

Baths (porcelain or lacquered). 

Feathers (small and long). 

Funnel (glass or porcelain). 

Potassium chlorate (crystals). 

An old toothbrush handle (a lifter). 

Fountain-pen filler (for lifting acid 

on plate). 


For Printing the Plate. 


Press. Nothing smaller than 17- 
inch roller is advisable. No fixed- 
wheel (ungeared) action. 

Zinc bed-plate for same (if desired). 


Blankets (swan-cloth, fronting). 


Inks: Frankfurt black (Nov see, 
No. 1, pour Taille douce). 
French black (heavy and 
light) (Bowwu is very 
good). 
Burnt umber, raw umber, 
Sienna, etc. 
Burnt oil (thick, medium 
and thin). 
Unburnt pure linseed (small 
bottle). 
Ink ground and put up in col- 
lapsible tubes. 
Ink slab (an old litho. stone is best). 


L. 8. Starrett Co., Athol, Mass., 
U.S.A., or engineers’ tool-maker. 
W. C. Kimber. 


Stationer or artists’ colourman. 


Chemist. 


Photographer’s supplier. 
Poulterer. 

Chemical supply store. 
Chemist. 

The home. 

Stationer. 


Second-hand, if possible, from a re- 
liable source unless the beginner 
can obtain advice of an expert. 
W. C. Kimber, or makers such as 
Hughes and Kimber, of London. 

Etcher’s dealer, or direct from fac- 
tory through a draper. 


La Fleche fils, 12, Rue de Tournon, 
Paris ; or Messrs. Cornelissen and 
Sons, 22, Great Queen Street, 
London, W.C. 2. 


B. Winston and Sons, 100, Shoe 
Lane, London, E.C. 4. 

Chemist. 

Ktcher’s dealer. 


Lithographer or printer. 


62 
For Printing the Plate. 


Muller (marble or similar stone). 
Heater (iron table with gas-ring 
attached). 
Heater electric (plate-warmer). 
Jigger (smooth wooden box same 
height as heater). 
Muslins : Tarlatan (French or Swiss), 
Book-muslin or Leno 
(coarse and fine). 
Soft (for retroussage). 
Palette knife—a long-bladed paint- 
ing knife is best. 
Blotting-paper (without water- 
mark), 
Clean rags. 
Printing papers. 


Gelatin (for sizing paper). 
Alum (_,, ame)! 
Brush (_,, », ) (large flat). 


MATERIALS AND TOOLS 


Etcher’s dealer. 


99 99 


or blacksmith. 


Electrician. 
Carpenter or home-made. 


Draper (probably special order). 


33 


Artists’ colourman. 
Wholesale stationer. 


The home. 

Etcher’s dealer or wherever found. 
(Messrs. L. Cornelissen for Van 
Gelder ; for Japanese see p. 143.) 

““ Cox’s leaf-gelatine ’’ from grocers. 

Chemist. 

Drysalter. 


Steel-facing (both copper and zinc) is undertaken amongst many firms by 


W. C. Kimber. 


PART II 


CHAPTER VIII 


PLAN OF AN ETCHING-ROOM 


Every worker will, sooner or later, evolve some system of arrangement 
for his tools, press, drawing-table, etc., according to the type of room at 
his disposal ; and the following plan (Fig. 31) is merely a suggestion which 
may be modified to any extent. Itis a purely personal arrangement (based 
on twenty years’ experience) of a very small room, and it has its weak 
points: the chief being that when working from a very large drawing 































































































ESO] 





Fic. 31.—Plan of room. 


(as sometimes happens) there is very little space for both drawing and plate 
if both are to be seen in a good light. Another drawback is the absence 
of a sink—a distinct inconvenience—but one can manage well enough by 
bringing in water in a bucket. Otherwise I find it answers excellently, 
and, in a small room, one never has to go far to fetch what is required ! 

A. In the window is the light-screen, made by stretching architects’ 


63 


64 PLAN OF AN ETCHING-ROOM 


tracing-paper across a wooden frame—a canvas stretcher, for instance— 
which, by diffusing the light, prevents the metal of the plate from glitter- 
ing too much. It is absolutely necessary when working upon a grounded 
plate indoors. Out of doors the light comes from all angles, and there is 
no glittering of the lines in one direction more than another. This is 
equally essential during printing operations. 

B is a table filling the alcove of the window. 

C. The heater on the table. In my own case merely a gas Bunsen- 
ring standing upon a wooden box, the top of which is protected by an 
iron sheet. Another sheet of iron is placed over the ring for certain pur- 
poses, but this is rarely necessary. The usual heater (Fig. 32) will probably 
be preferred by the student—at 
least, itis orthodox—and is merely 
a solid topped iron box with gas 
fixings or movable ring at one end, 
which allows a gradation of heat. 

When the Edinburgh College of 
aa Art was started in 1908 and every- 
thing was bought new, with no 
tradition to hinder, one of the 
appliances I had put in was an 
electric-heater. This was nothing 
more than a “hot-plate’”’ with 

~ polished steel top and controlled 
Fia 32.—Iron heater (gas). by three plugs, the centre one 
being the “negative.” The 
others switched on the radiator at half or full power. There were both 
radiator and plugs at each end, but they could not be employed simul- 
taneously. This proved a great success as a heater and is still in use. 
The gradation of heat is perfect and constant, and in a small room it is 
much more healthy than a gas-heater. For illustration of the above, see 
Chapter IV, Fig. 5. The electric-heater does not back-hght in cold 
weather like a Bunsen-burner, and there is also less danger of fire from 
inflammable liquids and old inky rags. The heater is used particularly 
in grounding plates, and in wiping the ink off in printing. 

D is the jigger—a smooth-surfaced wooden box with rounded edges 
upon which is 

K. The plate. In this case the jigger is longer than normally, as it 
serves for a table for drawing upon also. Underneath are kept the ink 
powders in tins, and the lump of whitening (Q). 

F is the ink-slab (a litho. stone) with its marble muller. When the box 
is required for drawing upon this slab is transferred to the press oppo- 
site (G). About 18 inches above the heater is a large hook, from which 
the inking roller (described later) is suspended out of harm’s way. The 
roller is never allowed to rest long upon its composition surface and so 
become flattened. If this happens it is almost impossible to convert it 








PLAN OF AN ETCHING-ROOM ~ 65 


to its original shape. This position (above the heater) also serves to keep 
it warm and, consequently, soft. 

G is the travelling-bed of the press. 

H. The blankets under the roller. They should never be left there long 
(see Chapter X). 

I. The star-wheel, which takes up the least possible space next to the wall. 

J is a table with drawer for holding etching tools,-ground, dabber, etc., 
which can be reached without moving when working at the window 
table (B). A cupboard beneath the drawer holds spare blankets, muslin, 
etc.; while on the table lies a sheet of plate-glass for use in damping 
paper, with a second against the wall ready to cover it. 

KK are long shelves running the length of the wall and reaching nearly 
to the ceiling. These hold various parcels of printing-papers and plates, ete. 

Lis a shelf at the end of the room, very high up, upon which are kept 
oils, turpentine, spirits and other solvents; with frames and old plates 
at the back. 

M is a corner “ what-not”’ with shelves widely spaced, to take acid- 
bottles, etc. Being in this corner no one is likely to brush against them 
in passing. This is underneath the long shelf running across the room. 

N. Piles of plates, mostly finished with and “ destroyed.” 

O. Reams of blotting-paper standing on end, with one open one (in use) 
laid across the others. It is far cheaper to buy at least five reams at once. 
If this is too large a quantity for one individual, it is a good plan for 
several to club together. 

PP. Doors of the room, which both open outwards. 

W. A bucket of water when required. (The door near it is then locked !) 

Paper should never be kept on the ground ; and in a small room like 
this, where there is a large store of it, the floor should never be cleaned 
by washing. It is very liable to breed mildew if this is done. 

Whatever the plan of the room it is very necessary to observe the old 
maxim, “‘A place for everything, and everything in its place,” otherwise 
a lot of time will be wasted, and the work will not go well. 

When artificial light is used, the globe must be screened even more care- 
fully than daylight. An excellent plan, if one has the use of electricity, 
is to bring the lamp down behind the window screen, so that everything 
will be still in the same relation to the light as in the daytime. 

In 1908 I had several open cubes of light wooden framework con- 
structed for use at the College, over which was stretched the same tracing- 
paper. These were about 2 feet square with open tops into which the 
electric lamps were lowered as required. These screens, which stood on 
the benches, could be worked at on all sides by different students and 
gave a very good light. It is preferable to have a more powerful lamp 
than the usual reading light ; but with a really powerful globe one can 
see even more clearly in some respects than by daylight. I have often 
wondered how Rembrandt managed to work (as he presumably did) with 
the comparatively dim lamps in use at that period. 


E 


¢ 


CHAPTER IX 
METHODS OF BITING EXPLAINED AND COMPARED 


WE may now suppose that the student has fitted out his workshop with 
a selection of the necessary tools described in Part I. 

Having laid a good ground, there are several different methods by which 
he may now proceed to draw upon and bite his plate, and they may be 
used either separately or in conjunction with one another. 

A. Biting in the Bath with Stopping-out.—The whole of the drawing 
may be completed, as far as he can see his way to carry it, before any 
biting is done. Any mistakes! he has made must then be carefully painted 
out with stopping-out varnish, and the back covered also. The plate is 
then bodily submerged in the mordant and left for just so long as he 
judges necessary for the most delicate lines in the design to be bitten, and 
then removed, washed and dried with blotting-paper. The plate should 
have been previously treated with acetic acid as already described. 

The delicate lines are then painted out ; the plate replaced and left long 
enough for the second lightest lines to etch; removed again ; stopped out, 
and so on until the strongest lines of all alone remain. When these are 
being finished there is often a danger of the ground giving way and the 
lines coalescing, and if this happens the work must be stopped; otherwise 
the mordant will merely lower the whole surface, and what is called a 
crevé be formed. The longer the biting is continued after this occurs the 
more the already bitten grooves are reduced to one (a lower) level, and 
the less ink will be held in printing. Therefore when the ground begins 
to break up, cease biting at once. 

Bordering Wax.—A probably older? method for covering the plate com- 
pletely with acid was to build up a wall of wax round the edges of the 
plate itself. To do this, wax is softened in hot water and then moulded 
on to the plate with the fingers when sufficiently pliable, fixing it firmly 
on the under side and bringing it up round the edges. It will soon harden 
as it cools. It is advisable to form a lip for pouring at the left-hand 
top corner. 

Sometimes it is the only method possible, as in the case of a specially 
large plate. Extra sized baths are very costly. 

When the plate is lying in the acetic bath is the best time to make sure 
that no scratches or small mistakes have been overlooked in painting out ; 
as when the surface is covered with liquid it is easier to see with certainty. 

1 e.g. the faint lines between the diagrams in Plate 1, which were painted out 
before biting began. 

* The first mention of the bath appears in Le Clere’s additions to Bosse’s book, 
i.e. in the 2nd edition, 1701. 


66 


METHODS OF BITING 67 


Even in the best diffused light some lines always tend to shine more than 
others, and this is lessened by the liquid. If the needle has been well 
pointed so that it is not too sharp, these slips and alterations will take 
very little removing after the biting has been finished and the ground 
washed off ; but if forgotten and bitten in there will be a lot of trouble 
ahead. In using nitric the feather must not be forgotten and bubbles 
removed as they form on the lines. 

B. Biting out of the Bath, without Stopping-out.—A second method is 
to complete the whole drawing as before, but, instead of placing the plate 
in a bath, to pour the acid upon it in various places, moving it here and 
there with the feather. This is rather tricky to handle properly and 
perhaps better avoided by the beginner, except in the case of final bitings 
on isolated spots, when it is far more convenient to paint round the passage 
for an inch or two and then pour the acid on, than to stop-out a much 
larger area for the sake of one or two small patches prior to replacing the 
whole plate in the bath. 

The advantage of this method, when controlled skilfully, is that stopping- 
out is not necessary, or very little so; and that more gradation may be 
obtained in a passage by playing the acid over it, little by little, with the 
feather. One can also see the whole effect right up to the end, and can 
better judge the values—delicate lines against heavy—when none is 
covered with stopping-out varnish. Joseph Pennell took this method 
from Whistler, who used it in his later period—that is during the time 
that Pennell knew him—and the pupil advocates it very strongly. Both 
he and McBey, who also employs it, say that the best way to prevent 
the acid running where it is not wanted—it will always try to get off the 
plate—is to spit on the part and form a little barricade of saliva (see note 
by McBey, p. 348). 

It can be seen that this method is really only suitable for plates where 
the work is principally concentrated well inside the margin—otherwise 
the acid will tend to run off when pushed right up to the edge—and this 
is precisely the sort of design Whistler was drawing more and more. 

Some of the last Dutch and Belgian etchings were a partial return to 
his earlier filling of the copper to the plate-mark—“ The Embroidered 
Curtain,” for instance—but such a design as ‘“‘The Barrow, Brussels,”’ is 
far more typical, and has not a line approaching within 4 inch of the edge 
anywhere. 

I think it is quite certain that the early French and Thames sets were 
entirely bitten in the bath (Method A), and, in fact, no plates worked 
thus solidly up to their plate-marks (e.g. ‘‘ Black Lion Wharf” and “‘ La 
Vieille aux Loques ”) could have been executed in any other manner. In 
the last mentioned, if the margin be examined, foul-biting will be found 
running right up to the edge (including several finger-marks) where the 
ground was weakened during the plate’s manipulation (Plate 115). 

C.. Drawing and Biting Portions Alternately.—There is a third method 
which presupposes a working-drawing or a very excellent memory ; unless 


DUTCH IRON PERCHLORIDE NITRIC 
































nr 
() 
f—) 


90 5 30 90 3 8 30 


Exact Size 


Plate 1. Figure A 


ILLUSTRATING COMPARATIVE MORDANTS. 


THE DUTCH WAS SMILLIE’S BATH, COLD. 
THE PERCHLORIDE 30°, TAKING THE SATURATED SOLUTION AS 45°. 
THE NITRIC WAS $ & 4 WITH WATER. 
Two STOPPINGS ON EACH FIGURE. THE LINES WERE RULED RIGHT THROUGH EQUALLY. THE NITRIC WAS BITTEN BY POURING 


ON THE ACID; THE DUTCH BY PLACING THAT END IN THE BATH. AFTER STOPPING-OUT BOTH CAREFULLY, THE COPPER WAS 
ENTIRELY SUBMERGED upside down IN THE PERCHLORIDE BATH. 


2 10 25 10 70 190 10 70 190 
































Exact Size. 
NITRIC - DUTCH IRON PERCHLORIDE 


Plate 1. Figure B 


ILLUSTRATING COMPARATIVE MORDANTS. 


THE NITRIC WAS THE SAME AS THAT USED ABOVE, BUT WAS VERY FRESH. 
THE DUTCH WAS SMILLIE’S BATH, VERY SPENT. 
THE PERCHLORIDE WAS THE WEAK SOLUTION SOLD BY CHEMISTS. 
ALL THREE WERE BITTEN :¥ ALLOWING THE ACID TO STAND ON THE DIAGRAM. HENCE MORE THAN DOUBLE THE TIME 


REQUIRED FOR ABOUT THE SAME RESULTS AS FIGURE A, WAS NEEDED FOR THE TWO WEAKER MORDANTS. THE TIMES 
ARE GIVEN IN MINUTES, 


METHODS OF BITING 69 


one can take the grounding apparatus to the subject or return several 
times to complete the work, as is possible in the case of a portrait, for 
example. 

This is to draw one part of the design first, and, after biting this, re- 
ground the plate and finish the drawing, biting the second part in its turn. 

D. A very similar method is to draw only the stronger parts of the 
design first, and having bitten these until the length of time which will 
be required to finish them corresponds with the period which will be 
sufficient to bite the more delicate passages, remove the plate from the 
bath, draw in the light parts and complete the biting of both together. 
By doing this no stopping-out is required, but a very nice judgment of 
biting ! 

Certain types of subject lend themselves to these two methods, and in 
employing the last, stopping-out can always be resorted to, if one’s calcu- 
lation of the time has proved faulty. 

EL. Drawing during Biting.—Still a fifth method is that invented (so far 
as we know) by Seymour Haden. Who actually was the first to use it 
is of no importance whatever : certainly Haden was the first who obtained 
such splendid results of gradated biting by its employment. 

This is nothing less than drawing while the plate is actually in the bath. 
We can more easily understand why the Haden mordants (already given) 
are comparatively slow biting. 

To do this one must have a very clear idea of one’s composition and 
exactly where the darkest accent in the design (which must obviously be 
set down first of all) is to come ; as, directly the line is drawn, biting will 
begin, and however rapidly the subsequent lines may be put down those 
first started will keep their lead. 

We are told that Haden used this process out of doors while drawing 
from Nature, but to do this requires extraordinary certainty and power 
of seeing the finished work in one’s imagination before beginning. 

A very complicated subject in which there are to be large areas of equal 
tone had better not be attempted by this means, at any rate by the 
beginner. A man who has used it successfully in the past, and still uses 
it in combination with Method B, is McBey; but the treatment of his 
subjects suits such methods. This working in the acid naturally eats away 
the needle very rapidly, and, if a fine point, it soon snaps off, while a 
heavier one becomes too sharp and catches in the metal of the plate 
when turning. 

Method A is illustrated by Plate 2. I have chosen this etching, although 
it was done as long ago as 1907, for several reasons. Firstly, being small 
and strongly bitten, it will reproduce well in detail. Secondly, it is one 
of the very few treated in this manner alone. And thirdly I have pre- 
served the plate, from which I can judge of the bitings better than from 
a proof. Obviously I cannot give exact timing from memory, but in any 
case I have never worked by time, preferring to judge by the look and 
feel of the lines. The times given are therefore only approximate. 


70 METHODS OF BITING 


The ground used was Rhind’s “liquid,” and the whole of the work 
(as shown in this state—there is a final) done in one etching by a series 
of stoppings-out. The plate was bitten am the bath of half-and-half 
nitric acid. 

lst stopping. The faintest lines of the receding scaffold-poles, with a 
very fine brush; after perhaps one minute or a little more. 

2nd stopping. The distant lines of the building seen between the 
scaffold uprights and the sky, which being drawn with a single isolated 
line would bite less rapidly than those first stopped; after a further 
two minutes. 

3rd stopping. The distant buildings, carefully avoiding the darker 
windows, and the lighter scaffolding in shadow; after a further five 
minutes. 

4th stopping. The windows and the whole of the scaffolding except a 
few of the darkest places ; after a few minutes more. 

5th stopping. The closely worked darks under the scaffolding ; after 
perhaps five minutes at the outside, probably less. These darks will now 
have had between fifteen and twenty minutes. In the proof these (to the 
left of and above the figures) appear quite as black as the horses and 
darker than the figures. This is because this interior passage was more 
closely drawn and crossed once at right angles. The width of these lines, 
in the plate, is less than that of the uncrossed lines of the men, but in 
the proof the effect is denser. The whole plate is now protected from the 
acid excepting the foreground with cart, horses and men. The cart and 
horses will already be ahead of the rest because crossed. 

6th stopping. The foreground ; after several minutes. 

There was no need to replace the plate in the bath after this—the last-— 
stopping. Taking up some acid with the feather, a few drops were placed 
upon the spots still unfinished, 1.e. horses, cart and men. This was renewed 
every now and then. Finally, the horses, which had to be as black as 
possible, were treated with a drop of pure acid, and the action checked 
immediately with blotting-paper. (This may be repeated until the ground 
shows signs of breaking up, which will happen almost at once, and it is 
then time to cease all biting.) The horses would thus have been in the 
acid for fully twenty-five minutes. 

It will be noted that passages in the foreground shadow are practically 
unbitten. This was due, not to stopping-out, but to faulty drawing. The 
needle had not properly cut through the ground, and consequently the 
acid hardly attacked those places at all. An alternative explanation is 
that the lines had been firmly drawn, but clogged afterwards by sweat 
from the hand. In those days I had not begun to use the acetic-acid bath 
preparatory to biting-in. 

The stopping-out varnish is now cleaned off with methylated spirit, and 
the ground by application of turpentine or benzoline. 

So many influences have to be taken into consideration in biting that 
to work to an exact schedule is not only foolish, but usually fatal; unless 





Tue Horsts. The Author. Etching. 742x41°. 
Plate 2 


ILLUSTRATING COMPLETED DRAWING BITTEN IN THE BATH. 


THE WORK (FROM A PENCIL DRAWING) WAS COMPLETELY DRAWN BEFORE BITING WITH NITRIC. UsvAL 
STOPPING-OUT TO OBTAIN VARIETY OF VALUE, 


71 


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72 


METHODS OF BITING 73 


one happens to have an exceptionally mathematical brain and employs 
both thermometer and hydrometer. 

First. There is the temperature of the room. In hot weather (or in a 
heated room) the action is far brisker than in the winter. 

Second. The strength of the bath. The amount of copper, or zinc, the 
acid has acted upon affects its biting-power. 

Third. The density of the plate itself. Hard metal bites more swiftly 
than soft; and the amount of alloy in its composition also affects the 
speed. In fact, chemists say that the purer the copper the less is it 
affected by acid. 

Fourth. The pressure exercised in drawing with the point also en- 
courages or retards the action of the mordant in getting hold at the 
beginning, and one passage may easily—generally does—start ahead of 
another. 

These four factors have to be considered upon every occasion, and not 
one of them can be ignored without risk. So that a time-schedule which 
works perfectly in the morning may be no guide at all in the afternoon, 
and the only safe plan is to watch the ebullition of the bubbles (if nitric 
is used) and the appearance of the lines, in all cases carefully examining 
them at short intervals by holding the plate almost level with the eyes 
and between them and the light, so that the shadows of the furrows 
cause these to appear as darks against the shiny, reflecting surface of 
the ground. 

The lines should also be felt with a fine needle, and if neither method 
satisfies the beginner a small portion of the wax must be removed with 
a delicate brush dipped in turpentine (or other solvent) and the exposed 
passage examined. The part must then be covered with varnish and 
cannot, of course, be bitten further at that time, whether ready or no. 
A line or two which is not of the greatest importance will naturally be 
selected. 

Method B.—This is illustrated by Plate 3, which being a small etching 
is reproduced almost full size. The whole of the work was drawn from 
nature upon a dabbed ground, and bitten some five or six months later, 
in Edinburgh, with the same half-and-half nitric. After the acid had been 
moved about on the surface for perhaps three minutes with a feather it 
was necessary to stop-out the line of distance where it passed behind the 
stem of the tree. When the sheep and goats had been bitten a little 
longer, a few more stoppings round the local patches of dark had to be 
made, as these were too small to permit drops of acid being placed upon 
them without overlapping the surrounding lines. There was no need for 
using any varnish in the case of the tree, as the spaces were larger, and 
indeed more variety was obtained by keeping the acid moving from one 
mass of foliage to another, and allowing longer for the central dark. 

As previously noted, the design of such a plate, where no work runs up 
to the edges, lends itself to this kind of treatment ; whereas the scaffold- 
ing of Plate 1 would have been almost, if not quite, impossible to bite in 


ee 


i 
| 
. 
i 
i 
i 


a 


PTA 8 A ENED REE LY SIT ARCO E TS ESET TET AAA EEN LMNs OLS a TET POD 












os] 


THE SHRINE. The Author Etching. 143x102. 


Plate 4 
ILLUSTRATING DRAWING IN STAGES. 


THIS FIRST STATE SHOWS HOW LARGE PORTIONS WERE LEFT BLANK IN ORDER TO AVOID CONFUSION IN BITING SO 
COMPLICATED A DESIGN. CLEAN WIPED. 


74 





THE SHRINE. 


The Author. 
Plate 5 





Etching. 


ILLUSTRATING DRAWING BY STAGES. 


THIS STATE SHOWS HOW THE LEFT SIDE WAS NEXT COMPLETED. 


T5 


RaQ WIPED. 


143 x 103. 


76 METHODS OF BITING 


this way, as the acid would have constantly run off the copper and the 
work been unequal. 

Method C.—This is illustrated by proofs of an etching the drawing for 
which was made some years previously. Plate 4 is the first state, Plate 5 
the second state and Plate 6 the final state. Between the two last were 
several states, but they are not required to show the method of working. 

The work was executed upon ordinary dabbed ground and, after an 
acetic bath, was bitten for from five to ten minutes in rather weak Dutch 
mordant (i.e. Smillie’s bath, which had become weakened by use). 

Plate 4, first drawing and biting. It will be seen that the whole of one 
side (behind the pillar) was deliberately left blank. I had already etched 
one plate of this subject and found the work too complicated to control 
at one time in the bath; and so determined, in the second attempt, to 
take one passage at a time. 

The pillar upon the extreme right is also untouched. 

After about ten minutes in hydrochloric the most delicate lines were 
stopped-out, e.g. those modelling the boy’s face. 

The biting was then continued with nitric, half-and-half. 

There are some five or six stoppings-out in this state alone. Note the 
contrast of tone between the face, and the black lamb-wool head-dress 
and eyes, of the boy. 

The longest biting was upon the foreground bowl and jug, etc., the lines 
of which were widely spaced in order to allow a considerable broadening 
before any risk of coalescing. This proof was wiped quite clean in order 
to show the exact state of the plate. 

Plate 5.—The pillar to the right still remained untouched, but the whole 
of the wall behind that to the left was now drawn in and bitten (for 
re-working, see Chapter X1). 

There was also a good deal of additional work strengthening those parts 
already drawn. Stopping-out was again necessary in order to obtain 
differentiation between the tones (representing colours in this case) of the 
figures, e.g. the blacks of the hair and the surrounding halos, but this was 
aided considerably by closeness and openness of shading and cross- 
hatching. As a general principle it is better to rely as little as possible 
upon stopping-out and as fully as may be on variety of line treatment 
(see Diirer, Plate 50, p. 204, where there was no interrupted biting at all). 

Additional weight. was also obtained by the method of printing. 

We shall come to printing later on (Chapter X), but one may take as 
a general guiding principle that so far as is reasonably possible every 
difference of tone should be in the lines on the plate. The best—which is 
usually the simplest—printing may greatly improve the quality of the 
lines ; but no tricks of printing can convert a poorly drawn and etched 
plate into a good one, though Whistler himself sometimes attempted to 
make it do so, e.g. “ Nocturne Palaces,” 2nd Venice set. 

In the final state there are several additions sufficiently noticeable to 
tell in a small reproduction. The pillar to the right is modelled, and the 








THE SHRINE. The Author. 


Etching. 14§x10}. 
Plate 6 


ILLUSTRATING DRAWING BY STAGES. 


THIS REPRESENTS THE FINAL STATE. 


THE PILLAR ON THE RIGHT HAS BEEN FILLED IN. CONSIDERABLE ADDITIONAL 
WORK ELSEWHERE. e.g. 


CENTRE OF HANGING BANNER ON RIGHT, BOY’S CAP, SHADOW ON FOOT, ETC. THE 
PRINTING IS ALSO FULLER, 


17 


78 METHODS OF BITING 


banner hanging upon the second pillar darkened by crossing vertically 
over the original horizontal lines. The shadows:are strengthened further 
—noticeably over the great foot—partly by re-biting the old lines and 
partly by adding new ones. 

When nitric acid is poured over a plate which has been begun with 
hydrochloric, it will be seen how immediate is the attack upon the lines 
so opened up; while when nitric is used to start the work (especially if 
no acetic bath has been given), many of the lightly drawn and more widely 
spaced lines will remain untouched for some time ; and when they do at 
last begin, will do so irregularly. This irregularity is one of the most 
important things to guard against, both by drawing firmly, and by clean- 
ing the lines with acetic acid ; and, further, for complicated passages, by 
beginning with a slow but sure mordant. I have said this already, I know, 
but it needs insisting upon. 

Method D.—The method is illustrated by Plate 7, “A Note of Ronda,” 
and is a compromise between Methods C and E. This particular etching 
was done specially, as I had no prints which were the result of this way 
of working only. In practice one generally employs several methods on 
the same plate. 

Plate : Copper. 

Ground : Rhind’s, dabbed, unsmoked. 

Acid : Dutch mordant (Smillie’s bath), cold. 

First the foreground—trees, cottages, etc.—were drawn and the plate 
placed in the bath for one hour. The plate was then withdrawn, dried 
and warmed slightly to soften the ground enough to prevent brittleness 
after the cold bath—merely a precaution—and the rest of the design 
completed. 

The plate was then replaced in the bath and the whole bitten for twenty 
minutes, giving a total of one hour twenty minutes for the stronger fore- 
ground against twenty minutes for the distance. 

There was no re-working, as I wished to provide an example of a plate 
bitten in two sections only without stopping-out. 

For the édition de luxe of this book the plate was steel-faced and printed 
upon Japanese Hosho paper, clean wiped by the hand only. 

By using this method lines which are required to be delicate may be 
crossed behind stronger ones in a way which is very difficult to achieve 
by drawing both together and using stopping-out. 

Method E.—This is illustrated by Plate 8, which was drawn entirely in 
the Smillie bath. The ground used was that of a local maker and not 
sufficiently strong. Hence the foul-biting in the sky. The plate was 
altogether two hours in the Dutch bath, and was finally treated with 
nitric for about two minutes to widen the lines. 

Although we are told that Haden used this process very largely, it is 
quite impossible to say with certainty that this or that plate was executed 
by this means. I have therefore chosen this example because I do know 
how it was done. The method is precisely that of the preceding one 


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80 METHODS OF BITING 


except that there is no removal of the plate from the bath for the draw- 
ing. Stopping-out is avoided altogether unless, by an error of judgment, 
the lighter lines have been drawn too soon and so become sufficiently 
bitten before the darker ones are ready. In this case there was none.} 

If stopping 7s resorted to the transparent varnish will enable the operator 
to continue to see his values—dark lines against light—the great advan- 
tage of the method. In this manner of drawing while the biting is 
progressing, it will be seen how easily delicate lines may be brought over 
stronger ones in order to densen or strengthen a passage, and how much 
more readily a gradation may be made than by the use of stopping-out, 
where the mark of the brush is bound to leave a more or less definite 
edge between tones. 

Placing the Design on the Plate.—The majority of beginners (and indeed 
of experienced etchers) find the putting down of the first lines on the 
immaculate surface of the grounded plate the most terrifying part of any 
process ; and it is particularly difficult in this case. One cannot make a 
tracing, or draw with any metallic substance on the ground, because the 
first thing the acid does is to remove any such marks. Only one resource 
is open to the etcher who needs a guide: a drawing of some kind beneath 
the wax, and a transparent ground. 

Sometimes light drypoint is worked? over, but I generally use an 
ordinary lead-pencil, both for this and for the other methods, unless 
working out of doors. With the ordinary methods A and B there are 
several other ways of helping the etcher over this initial difficulty, and 
many advocate a tracing from a drawing of the exact size of the plate. 
This is a tedious business, but for those who wish to practise it a piece 
of sanguine tracing-paper must be procured and placed below the draw- 
ing, which is then gone over with a fine point. It is advisable to turn the 
edges over the back of the copper in order to prevent the paper moving. 

A soft-pencil drawing will print off upon a grounded plate if run (not 
‘oo heavily) through the press, but naturally the impression will be in 
reverse. If it is desired to have the etching the same way round as the 
original drawing, this is so much the better. To complete the drawing, 
in this case, a mirror will be necessary, placed facing the draughtsman, 
and the drawing propped up so that he can see its reflection comfortably. 
An alternative is to pin the drawing face outwards to the light-screen 
(see Chapter VII), and if the paper is not exceptionally thick the design 
will be seen quite well enough through the back; well enough for main 
facts, at least: details can be filled in by the aid of the glass. No one 
bothers about this reversing unless obliged to do so. Even well-known 
topographical views, and portraits in which the sitter is working with the 
right hand, though they may look incongruous when reversed, in no way 
affect the judgment of the real “amateur” on the look out for a work of 


1 But some added work (by the same process) on a second ground bitten as 
before. This did not alter the general effect. 
2 See McBey, note (p. 348). 











Ss a“ % ca 


N AN INDIAN RIVER. 





Thee Anthor: 
Plate 8 
DRAWING IN THE BATH. 


THIS PLATE ILLUSTRATES HADEN’S “‘ CONTINUOUS” PROCESS. Ir WAS PLACED IN SMILLIE’S DUTCH BATH, THE LINES BEGINNING TO BITE 
AS THEY WERE DRAWN. NATURALLY THE STRONGEST DARKS HAVE TO BE BEGUN FIRST. AFTER THE DRAWING WAS COMPLETE 
THE LINES WERE STRENGTHENED BY A COUPLE OF MINUTES IN NITRIO. NO STOPPING-OUT NEEDED. 





82 METHODS OF BITING 


art. The use of tracing or preparatory work of any kind is not for the 
purpose of making a print “look right’ in this sense. It is to aid the actual 
placing of the composition and to allow of clean, unhesitating draughts- 
manship. 

No work done from Nature (e.g. that of Whistler or Haden) can rely 
upon this help, and I always find it best when working out of doors to 
draw very lightly at first (so that the wax is not penetrated), thus 
indicating the plan of the whole design before beginning to set down the 
real lines which are intended to be bitten. 

If this is objected to, the student can take some Chinese-white, rece 
a brush with saliva and mark with this the main points of the composition. 
It is easily removed by using a wet finger as india-rubber. 

When working at home with one’s heater and tools at hand, I find a 
variant of the light-drawing method very useful when not employing the 
lead-pencil under the ground. 

Drawing quite freely but as lightly as possible (using the side of the 
needle-point), and disregarding all mistakes until the whole arrangement 
is decided, the correct lines are gradually strengthened, leaving the rest 
telling less definitely. Then the plate is replaced upon the heater and left 
there until the lines have practically run together again. It will be found 
that the more definite ones will not disappear entirely, but they will have 
melted sufficiently for a film of wax to have formed over the metal. It 
is hardly necessary, however, in any case, to lay bare the surface of the 
plate in the light drawing, if the ground is of moderate thickness. A very 
thin ground would not “run ”’ sufficiently to admit of this practice ; and 
I am not sure whether a smoked ground would either, but I never, under 
any circumstances, use smoke. 

In working with the pencil on a polished plate there need be no fear 
that these lines will be deep enough to print. Here, in order to make 
alterations, a little plate-polish will act as india-rubber. It is hardly 
necessary to add that the plate should be cleaned beforehand and the 
hand kept off the surface as much as possible, because it obviously cannot 
be cleaned after the pencil-drawing has been made. 

I use this method considerably and find it invaluable. One reason why 
these things are not advocated, probably, is that most previous writers insist 
upon smoking the plate,! and this, of course, is impossible to see through. 

When the biting has been finished by one of the above methods, the 
varnish (both back and front) has to be cleaned off. The solvent necessary 
will depend upon the stopping-out varnish: methylated spirits for the 
hat-polish, and so on. After rubbing this off, a little turpentine will 
remove the ground itself. The backing may be scraped off with the long 
palette-knife, if preferred. It flakes off quite readily. 

I generally clean the plate next with polish, partly because this allows 
me to see what the lines will look like in the proof, and partly to remove 
any drypoint marks where wrong lines had been stopped-out before biting. 


1 See McBey, note (p. 348 


i 
i 
EB 








‘ 





bg 
Eroumnc. The Author. Bys X343. 


Plate 9 
ILLUSTRATING SINGLE BITING, IRON PERCHLORIDE. 


THIS PLATE WAS BITTEN WITH PERCHLORIDE AT 30° (SATURATED SOLUTION 45°) FOR THIRTY MINUTES. IT WAS INVERTED 

IN THE BATH SO THAT THE DEPOSIT MIGHT FALL OUT G NOT CLOG THE LINES. NO STOPPING-OUT. BITTEN WITH THE 

SAME BATH AS DIAGRAM A, PLATE 1. THE GREATER STRENGTH MAY BE DUE TO SEVERAL THINGS: THE CROSSING OF 
THE LINES, MORE INITIAL EMPHASIS WITH A SHARPER POINT & PARTICULARLY FULLER PRINTING. RAG WIPED, 


83 


84 METHODS OF BITING 


If these scratches are very strong (from an over-sharp point) it will be 
necessary to use the charcoal, or a burnisher, to get rid of them (Chap. XI). 

Polish should be removed from the lines before leaving the plate. 
Otherwise it may harden and be difficult to remove later; or (where its 
composition is unknown) it may contain a trace of free acid which will 
attack the lines. 

Single Biting.—Plate 9 represents the simplest form of etching, i.e. with 
one biting without stopping-out. The plate is of copper on which was a 
very thin dabbed ground, and the mordant perchloride of iron at 30°. 

The original drawing was done direct, but the ground was cleaned off 
before biting, as I considered the sketch too slight. When cleaned, how- 
ever, the fine drypoint line which remained looked more interesting than 
I had thought, and in order to save it I re-grounded the copper and re- 
drew over the faint design. A little of this is still visible here and there. 
The new work has somewhat lost the spontaneity of a first drawing, but 
it will serve as an illustration. 

The plate was bitten for thirty minutes wpside-down, the sediment being 
quite visible at the bottom of the porcelain tray. In order to do this 
a small slip of wood was placed for the edges of the plate to rest upon at 
either side. One is quite sufficient to raise the copper off the tray. The 
plate was not touched afterwards, though several obvious mistakes call 
for remedy. 


CHAPTER X 
PRINTING 


Part 1. Wiping the Plate 


Havine bitten the plate by one of the methods explained in the previous 
chapter, the etcher will be impatient to see the result of his first state. 
Ink.—The first necessity 1s good ink. 
Although more laborious, it is still worth while making up one’s own 
ink, for the following reasons :— 


(1) It can be made of any consistency—stiff or oily. 
(2) It can be made of any strength, by means of strong, medium or thin oil. 
(3) It can be varied in colour, by mixing more or less burnt umber with 


the black. 


It is true that both black and coloured inks can be put up in collapsible 
tubes, of any degree of strength, but one still has to mix them for oneself 
for each plate’s special requirements, and it is never possible to thicken 
their consistency, though easy to dilute it. No doubt this would be the 
ideal way of keeping ink 7f one could rely upon obtaining just what one 
asked for. That is, if one could test the blacks, umber and oils before 
giving them to a maker to be ground and put up ! 

Short of this I prefer to buy the individual ingredients and to make the 
ink up fresh as required. There is then no uncertainty ; no fear of tubes 
drying up; or of being out of just the tube one needs; neither will the 
ink be over-ground as it sometimes is by machinery, i.e. too fine to remain 
in the lines properly. 

To mix the ink: take some Frankfurt-black of a good colour—some is 
very grey—or some French-black, which is sold in two qualities, light and 








We) 
=~ rl 
= vn | ( 
dt | 
Cnn! a) Mie 


i ini 


Fra, 33.—Powder colour ey for mixing. 


heavy ; or a mixture of these powders, and add to it some powdered burnt 
umber. The best (French) umber (c) is usually sent out in pellets, and 
these must be crushed with the muller (d) on the slab (a) before mixing 
(Fig. 33). French-black will absorb much more umber than most Frank- 


85 


86 PRINTING 


furt-blacks before becoming appreciably brown. French, especially Bouwju 
Heavy French, is a very rich, dense, black powder. There is a curious 
difference between these powders in wiping the ink off the plate, the less 
dense Frankfurt-blacks coming away much more freely from the surface. 
A good ink is made by mixing some Heavy French with the Frankfurt. 
When the two (or three) powders are well mixed with the knife (6), looking 
rather browner than the colour required in the proof, form a crater in 
the cone of powder (e), and pour into it the burnt oil, mixing into a very 
stiff paste. Make it as stiff as possible, as in grinding it will become looser 
and looser. Push the muller on its edge at first—the near edge if going 


SOS SS 


= eo a a, 


UN NLL 


Fic. 34.—In starting to grind keep muller on edge. 





away from the body, and the further edge when pulling towards the body 
(Fig. 34)—otherwise it will merely push the unground mass before it. Soft 
Frankfurt will not take much grinding; but a hard powder like umber 
or French-black will need considerable patience and elbow-grease in order 
to ensure that no grit remains to scratch the plate. Under-ground ink is 
generally responsible for the scratches which are the curse of printing. 

Another result of under-ground ink may be disintegration of the powder 
from its vehicle, the oil, in the future. As a test, rub the finger on the 
slab, and if there is any grittiness the grinding must be continued. 


= 
er 
= 





When finished, scrape up the ink with the painting-knife and pile it at 
one end of the slab, whence it may be taken up by the roller (Fig. 35). 

If printing a large batch of proofs—an edition—sufficient ink should be 
made up to last for the whole, and can be stored in a small pot which 
should be placed in a larger vessel of water, to keep the air from the ink. 


PRINTING 87 


It is always better (and easier) to mix and grind ink a day before using, 
as after standing overnight the oil and powder become more thoroughly 
incorporated ; and a final grinding before use in the morning will make 
it perfect. 

If the consistency becomes too thin during grinding, more powder must 
be added ; and if the colour has been wrongly gauged it can be altered, 
taking care, in both cases, to re-grind sufficiently. 

Oils.—F or general purposes “thin” and “‘ medium ” oils only are required. 
Thin oil alone gives an ink without much grip or “ tackiness,”’ yielding 
a proof with considerable tone on the surface, but with a thin line. 

Medium oil is the safest for a beginner to handle, as there is less likeli- 
hood of the lines being “‘ wiped out’ and so reduced in strength. 

Ink made with pure unburnt linseed is very difficult to remove, leaving 
a heavy film over the surface (unless cleaned with whitening) and a cor- 
respondingly dense tone in the proof. But it is easy to drag it out of 
the lines. Deldtre, who printed for Meryon and for Whistler, is said to 
have employed it at times, and, though it can hardly be so lasting, as 
the oil has really no grip on the powder like burnt oil has, it certainly 
yields a peculiarly beautiful matt surface. 

Burnt oil is practically a varnish. It is made by boiling and, when at 
a certain temperature, igniting ; the burning reducing it to a thicker and 
more siccative medium. 

I once made some by throwing bread! into the boiling liquid, which 
has a somewhat similar result. If I remember rightly it was an old recipe, 
but I cannot recall who gave it to me. 

But if one boils linseed-oil indoors one will soon wish it were outside, 
as the fumes given off are most painful to the eyes. That is why the old 
men used to boil it out in an open space, and a large quantity at a time. 
Nowadays I presume it is made in scientifically adapted retorts. 

Strong oil if used alone would be almost impossible to move at all, but 
would yield a very powerful, varnishy line and, owing to its tremendous 
grip, a somewhat mottled or granulated tone on the surface, unless very 
thoroughly cleaned with whitening. The least irregularity in the plate’s 
face would hold up the ink, and when one succeeded in getting it off it 
would be at the expense of all the tone, i.e. the proof, in that case, would 
be as clean as a visiting-card. 

Ktchings are never printed by cleaning so thoroughly that no tone at 
all is left. It gives a brutal, hard look to the proof; and the delicate 
film over the whole surface of a well-printed etching is one of its chief 
beauties : a contrast to the purer white of its mount. 

There is no real need for any beginner to provide strong oil. One 
modern etcher used it—I don’t think he does still—for making a very 
powerful ink for working into lines prior to inking-up with a thin oil. 


_ 7 It is probably the moisture in the bread which produces the result. It is prac- 
tically the old method for obtaining what the modern scientist obtains by blowing 
steam through the oil to thicken it. 


88 PRINTING 


This allowed a greater body in the line with a fuller tone on the surface 
than could be obtained by the use of either alone. But I hardly think 
it was very satisfactory, and it can be very rarely necessary. 

Dabber v. Roller.—The dabber is the old appliance for inking-up a plate ; 
but the roller, in my own opinion, is a very great improvement, though 
still comparatively rare in printers’ workshops. The dabber is of the same 
shape as that described for use in grounding, but very much larger and 
made of solid cloth or other springy material. Printers usually cover 
them with part of an old stocking for the sake of the grip, and when not 
in use place them face down in a saucer of oil to prevent hardening. 

The roller is superior because it does not wear the plate or scratch to 
the same extent. This is especially true in printing drypoints. 

The usual tool is of composition ; mostly gelatine. This has a great 
disadvantage : 1t cannot stand much heat without melting and sticking 
to the plate. Rubber is equally bad because it affects the metal and 
causes tarnish. Leather is too hard : it does not give sufficiently to drive 
the ink into the lines. It is perfect for lithographic printing because that 
is all surface work. 

Joseph Pennell describes a new American roller made up of layers of 
blanket which can be stripped off as they become hard. 

My own roller, I think, combines the advantages without the defects 
of these others. Mr. Kimber made one or two for my friends, and I see 
he now advertises them. This is simply the composition roller covered 
with fine “fronting,” 1.e. printing 
blanket (Fig. 36). The composition 
gives continued elasticity: the 
fronting prevents melting, and also 
has a good nap which grips the ink 
well and can be cleaned thoroughly. 
Even when a little hardened with 
use, warming immediately softens 
the composition beneath, and the 
elasticity 1s retained, which is not 

» 8 ae the case when ink is allowed to 
Fia. 36.—The Author’s inking-roller. harden over composition itself. 

When the blanket does eventually become too hard, all that is necessary 
18 to strip it ofi—it does not tear away the composition—and sew on a 
new piece. This should be done with soft thread and the fronting brought 
well over the ends of the roller: otherwise the edges will become hard 
with ink and scratch the plate. After sewing the material as tightly as 
possible—drawing the two sides together so that they just meet without 
overlapping—the roller should be passed backwards and forwards over a 
well-heated plate with sufficient ink to cover its (the roller’s) face and to 
fill up the seam. The superfluous ink is scraped off and the surface left 
to dry by hanging up so that nothing can touch it. If the weight of 
the roller rests upon the composition for long at a time it will cause 





PRINTING 89 


flattening (as has already been pointed out), and this is ruin (see 
Chap. VITI—F). 

In rolling on the hot plate the heat will melt the composition sufficiently 
to make it adhere to the blanket, and when “ set” thoroughly the thread 
of the seam can be filed away with emery paper. If this be allowed to 
remain, even though hardly noticeable to the touch of the hand, it will 
cause minute scratches on the plate when force is used to drive ink into 
deep lines. 

If this is properly done the result is a perfect roller, and one cover will 
last for months or even years, according to the treatment it receives. The 
more often it is in use, the better the condition in which it remains, as 
the ink never has time really to harden. 

Printing Muslins.—The ink 1s rolled on solidly all over the plate, and 
one should watch the deep lines in order to make certain that they are 
filled, rubbing with the finger or a rag if there is any doubt. 

To wipe the ink off, several pieces of muslin of varying fineness of mesh 
are required ; the more open for beginning and the closer for finishing. 


PEO ANA 











Fic. 37.—Wiping plate. 


Muslin which is fairly stiff with dressing is best, as what is necessary is 
a flat pad a little larger than the palm of the hand with a firm, smooth 
face which will pick up the surface ink, but will not drive down into the 
lines and drag the ink out (see Fig. 37). In fact, the more one polishes 
the plate (with a circular motion) the more the ink should be driven into 
the lines, if the hand be kept flat and a scooping action avoided. What 
is called “leno,” or book-muslin, is excellent and has a certain wooliness 
of mesh which helps the ink to cling to it; but for leaving a fair tone 
over a plate—rag-wiping only—there is nothing to equal French (or Swiss) 
“ Tarlatan,” which is not so easily obtained in this country. Its mesh 
is absolutely “‘ clean,”’ with none of the fibrous wooliness which more or 
less blocks up the mesh of the book-muslins. 

The old coarse “‘ printer’s canvas ’”’ is still used, but it has all the 
qualities which render it liable to reduce the amount of ink in the lines, 
and none of the qualities necessary for leaving full lines! One profes- 
sional printer told me, many years ago, that he never used it except for 
reducing over bitten plates. 

I have never seen this coarse, woolly canvas, which will never lie really 


90 PRINTING 


flat, used by a French printer either in Paris or in London; neither was 
it in use at Goulding’s on the only day I worked there. 

To obtain strong full lines it is necessary to have the rag well charged 
with ink. So, when a pad is used for the first time, it is unnecessary to 
change to a second piece for finishing, as there will be no more than 
sufficient ink in the rag at the end to clean the surface and leave the lines 
well charged. For the second proof the first rag may be used for removing 
the bulk of the ink, but enough allowed to remain to fill the pores of a 
second pad which will finish the wiping. 

The second may (if desired) be of finer mesh, and when once in working 
order they should be kept at these degrees of inkiness as long as possible, 
as many as three pads being used in rotation. As each becomes over- 
charged, a new layer of muslin should be pulled from below over the old 
flat surface. This will settle well on the inky mass and remain firm and 
solid, already partially filled from underneath as the ink squeezes through 
the mesh. The pad should not be shaken out and re-made, but always a 
new layer brought up over the already used surface. 

Rag-wiping.—Etchings are very often printed by wiping with the rag 
alone (see Plate 2), and this leaves a certain amount of ink hanging over 
the edge of each line, according to the direction in which the muslin has 
last passed. This fills the spaces between the lines where they are close 
together and gives a full effect. Such plates as Whistler’s “ Traghetto, 
No. 2.” or “‘ Doorway and Vine ” were printed in this way, and, although 
the lines are not very close-worked, the ink between binds them together 
and gives the appearance of much more line-work than there really is. 

Hand-wiping.—The more orthodox and, in the majority of cases, I 
think, the more beautiful way of finishing is what 1s called “‘ hand-wiping ”’ : 
using the base of the palm for polishing the surface after the rag has taken 
off most of the tone. A large lump of whitening should be kept under the 
“jigger ”’ (see Fig. 31 Q), the hand passed over this and then dusted free 
of the powder, upon one’s overall, and finally brought sharply across the 
face of the copper. The whitening frees the skin from sweat, and the 
dusting action soon becomes almost automatic. The acid from a moist 
hand smearing the nearly finished surface removes every vestige of tone, 
and white streaks in the proof result. 

The action of the hand drives the ink off the surface into the lines and 
clears their edges of the above-mentioned “overhang ”’ left by the rag, 
yielding in the proof a simple visiting-card-like effect, but with an equal, 
delicate tone throughout. This tone can only be removed by application 
of a considerable amount of whitening and at the same time a probable 
weakening of the line unless great care is exercised. But (as pointed out) 
this is never required in the case of original etchings. For an example 
of this clean printing see Plate 4. 

Retroussage.—To obviate the bare, rather cold look of this kind of 
printing the usual practice is to employ retroussage or “‘ bringing up ”’ the 
ink from the lines by playing a soft clinging muslin or other rag over those 


PRINTING 91 


parts which it is desired to print more richly. By this means (called also 
“dragging ” or “ pumping ”’) the ink is coaxed from the lines and spread 
over their edges—in this case both edges, while by the rag process only 
one side of each line is affected—the result being softer and stronger than 
in the “ clean-wiped ”’ impression. 

It is easy to abuse this ‘‘ dragging ’’—the result being dense and woolly 
—and the beginner should guard against any reliance upon it for obtaining 
strength from weak lines. 

Well done, it is a great asset ; badly, an abomination. 

A Combination.—A third variety of handling is very often most service- 
able. The plate is cleaned with the hand, and then once more gone over 
with the fully-charged stiff muslin, which drags the ink again from the lines 
as in rag-wiping alone, but the surface having been more fully polished 
previously, a much stronger and more brilliant proof is the result. Plates 
5 and 6 were printed in this manner. 

These several methods, combined with varying strength and consistency 
in the ink, afford an infinite range of possible proofs from any given plate ; 
and it is for the artist to choose—generally after experiment—which of 
them to employ for each new work he produces. This is at once the 
difficulty and the joy of printing, and the reason why every artist should 
do his own proving at least, even if he decides against pulling the whole 
edition. 

It is only after great experience (and countless experimental failures) 
that he can realize the possibilities of any one plate seen for the first time. 
Not only this: the knowledge gained in printing affects his treatment of 
all the previous processes, as, after all, these are only preparatory stages 
in the production of a certain type of proof. 

For instance, if Whistler had not had a great experience of printing he 
would never have had the requisite knowledge which allowed him to draw 
his open lines in the first place. His drawing, biting and printing were 
all part of one process conceived from the beginning as a whole ; and while 
the older I grow the less I tolerate over-elaborate wiping, no one but a 
fool would ignore the possibility of aiding the expression of the idea in 
the artist’s mind (in which he may have partially failed through in-exact 
biting) by the use of every printing dodge of which he is possessed. 


Part 2. The Press 


Having now wiped the plate—preferably quite clean for a first pull— 
the next process is to pass it through the press (Fig. 38). 

A good press, as I said in the very beginning, is essential, and should 
be at least 17 inches wide across the rollers and bed-plate. 

Nearly all presses now are made with geared action ; either “ double ”’ 
or what is termed “‘ wheel and spindle ”’ in the trade, i.e. a single gearing. 
No fixed-wheel press should be purchased if there is any chance of 
obtaining one with the easier-working device. This is not merely a 
matter of labour-saving; it implies less jarring and less liability to 


92 PRINTING 


crease or cause friction to the paper on the plate as they pass between 
the rollers. 

Personally I am fond of the single-geared, spider-wheel press, as it 
enables one to feel exactly what is happening, without undue labour. 

The small students’ presses are useless for good work and should be 
avoided, as there is never sufficient pressure even for the smallest plate, 
and it should be realized that the finest lines need the most “ pinch,” as 
Mr. Goulding once wrote to me. 

Blankets.—I generally use four blankets, sometimes five, but the fewer 
that will yield sufficient elasticity the better, and most etchers over- 
blanket the press. I find two of thick “‘ swan-cloth ” and two of fronting 
next the plate are usually quite enough. 

Another point upon which I differ (with all diffidence) from everyone 
I have ever seen print is in the length of blanket. The ordinary practice 
is to employ lengths of 2 to 24 feet and to allow them to remain in position 
beneath the roller—first at one end and then at the other—while the 
printing continues. (No one leaves them there afterwards.) 

This means that the several blankets are always in the same relation to 
each other ; and that the pressure, which means the hardening, happens 
time after time in much the same place, while the rest of the materval 
remains soft and at a different tension. This causes wrinkles to appear, 
from the place where the pressure strikes, outwards, and is one of the 
fruitful sources of creasing on the proof. 

My own practice is to cut the lengths shorter than their width, say about 
14 16 inches (my press is 18 inches). 

Instead of bringing all the blankets down over the plate in one lump, 
I place each separately and after passing through the press I sling them 
all over the upper rail. By doing this the pressure is never applied in the 
same relative position to all the blankets, and I also turn them about and 
reverse their order. Not only is the surface of each more equally acted 
upon, but being very little larger than the plate there is a very small area 
of margin remaining at a different tension, and consequently the minimum 
risk of creasing resulting from ripples of blanket being forced under the 
roller. Blankets of this shape are also far more easily washed out when 
hard, and, naturally, one needs to buy less by utilizing nearly the whole 
area instead of about one-third, as in the normal procedure. 

Blankets should be rinsed in warm water! and Lux whenever they 
become at all hard. It is the fronting which bears the brunt of the 
pressure, or rather is much more quickly affected, because the close nature 
of the material allows it to become easily hardened and the moisture from 
the paper strikes the innermost pieces first. It may be softened a good 
deal by vigorous working between the hands between proofs if one is 
short of fresh pieces. 

The Travelling-Bed.—Another point upon which I differ from accepted 
tradition is in placing the plate directly upon the travelling-bed. All 


1 Mr. Goulding once said “ warm water only, without soap.” 


PRINTING 93 


professionals and textbooks advocate this, but my own method is to 
pack up the plate with a number of sheets of used blotting-paper. 

Most printers also use a zinc sheet over the iron bed, which is supposed 
to give resilience. It probably does, but inappreciably, and there is 
nothing whatever against its use except its initial cost. 

I find, at the time of writing, that there are fully twenty sheets of 
blotting-paper on the press almost welded together by constant pressure. 
The uppermost is changed every time to provide a clean resting-place for 
every proof, but the rest are left. This has several advantages, apart 
from resilience. 

There is no pressure on the blankets beyond the pad, therefore no 
pulling of the blankets before the roller bites on the edge of the pad which 
almost coincides with the plate itself ; and there is no unnecessary labour. 
The slightest touch on the wheel brings the edge of the pad under the 
roller and—most important of all—there is no pressure upon the edges of 
the blankets while the plate is going through: they are free and do not 
drive before the roller in waves. 

One can also “feel” the pressure far more easily when little but the 
plate is resisting: far more easily than when the roller is screwed down 
almost to the bed and a length of blanket is surging under it in the time- 
honoured fashion. 

Pressure Regulation.—Another reason for using this backing is that by 
its means I keep the press regulated without recourse to the regulating screws. 

Creasing.—The most common annoyance in printing is creasing, or 
a “ printing-fold,” and its occurrence in nine cases out of ten is due to 
enequality of pressure. When one side is tighter than the other the blanket 
or plate tends to slew round towards the tight side, and although not 
sufficient to make any appreciable difference to the lines it is enough to 
cause an extremely fine wrinkle in the paper which is flattened down as 
the plate passes beneath the roller. It may be so fine as to be extremely 
difficult to detect, but if the proof is stretched this fold pulls open and 
shows as a white line—white because the ink could not touch it—across 
the face of the etching. It is a very common fault in Whistler’s later 
prints, and their value is considerably lessened in the eyes of a collector 
and the dealer who caters for him. 

The best way to regulate the pressure is to take an old, uninked, etched 
plate of the same thickness as the one to be printed and pass it through 
with some blotting-paper. The examination of the two szdes of the plate- 
mark and the cleanness and embossedness of the lines on the soft paper 
should tell the printer both if there is sufficient pressure and whether one 
side is bearing more heavily than the other. 

If the plate-mark appears deeper on the left side, screw down the right, 
or (if too much pressure) loosen the left. 

When once equalized, however, I rarely touch the screws, as with the 
paper backing it is the easiest thing in the world to add or remove one 
or more sheets without any risk of upsetting the balance. It is by no 


94 PRINTING 


means easy to obtain absolutely equal pressure ; and once obtained it is 
best left severely alone for as long as possible. I have seen printers 
changing the pressure between plates, or even proofs, by means of the 
screws, and I am quite sure that there was no certainty about the result. 
It is only when the blanket begins to harden and usually only with certain 
softish papers that creases occur, because the difference in pressure is 
extremely slight and the new blanket is often sufficient to counteract the 
effect of the pull. A sheet or two of paper is quite enough to add or 
subtract when an extra thick or thin plate is to be printed, or when the 
blankets swell in printing from damp or become slack from pressure. It 
is much easier, much quicker, and much more certain. 

Pulling the Proof.—But to return to the novice awaiting his first trial 
proof. It is well first of all to examine the back of the plate in order to 
make sure that no stopping-out varnish, ink or other substance has stuck 
to it. Anything of the kind which caused a slight inequality on the back 
would be forced up, and raise a corresponding lump on the face of the 
plate after the first impression. This would become more polished than 
the rest of the surface in the next wiping and show up as a lighter patch 
in the subsequent proofs. It would then become necessary to hammer 
the plate flat again (see Chapter XI). 

A rag, folded over the finger, should then be run round the edges, as 
the ink always collects there in wiping and may be squeezed up on to the 
surface in the press, spoiling an otherwise good impression. 

After this the plate is replaced upon the heater for a moment (if quite 
cold), and when warm transferred to the bed of the press. It is better to 
print with the plate across the press, not end-ways. There is less danger 
of the paper moving and creasing and of the plate curling up. 

Next, the damped paper (see Chapter XVI) is lifted from its pile under 
the glass and examined for any grit, hairs or other blemishes on the 
surface. If anything requires removal it can be done with a needle, small 
pliers or the shaving-brush kept for the purpose. When satisfactory it is 
taken up carefully by the corners and laid face downwards on the plate. 
Most papers when damp are sufficiently transparent for the plate to be 
seen quite clearly beneath, and if not lying squarely may, in the majority 
of cases, be moved freely without fear of the ink off-setting. 

If there is any blemish in the paper which cannot be removed and is 
yet not serious enough to cause the sheet to be discarded, it should be so 
placed that the mark will fall in a heavily inked passage and so be hidden. 

When in position two sheets of new blotting-paper are laid over it, and 
finally the two layers of fronting followed by the two (or three) thick 
blankets, and the whole pulled between the rollers. 

Blotting-paper is far better and cheaper for this purpose than plate- 
paper, which is occasionally used, but most printers place only a sheet of 
tissue-paper between the printing-paper and the blankets. Blotting-paper 
is very important in my opinion, for the following reasons : it serves to 
dry the proof, and keeps it perfectly flat when removed from the press, 


PRINTING 95 


so that it can be examined at leisure without wrinkles. More important 
still: it serves to keep the moisture from the blankets and thus enables 
one to print far longer without changing them. Also it is, in itself, a form 
of fresh blanket for every proof, and protects very delicate paper in passing 
through the press ; in lifting from the plate ; and by keeping it flat after- 
wards until ready to be pressed, which must not be attempted for some 
days at least ; better some weeks (see Chapter XVI). Another advantage 
is that if a slight crease happens it often affects the upper blotting-paper 
only without spoiling the proof. 

After the plate has been pulled (once only) through the press the blankets 
are lifted en masse and flung over the top bar of the machine and the 
blotting-paper gently raised from one corner. The proof will adhere firmly 
to its backing until forcibly removed, either at the moment, if desired, or 
some weeks later, which is my own usual practice. 

If upon examination some of the lines appear white this means that 
the ink was not properly driven into them with the roller; but wiping 
with a fully charged rag is sufficient in itself to fill most lines as a rule, 
even if they have been missed in the initial inking of the plate. 

Used Blotting-paper.—Blotting-paper once used must on no account be 
employed a second time, as the tension in the centre (inside the plate- 
mark) will cause the sheet to buckle in passing through again and will 
almost invariably crease the proof. 

Cut Proofs or Blankets.—If{ the paper is cut at the plate-mark it 
means, not that there is too much pressure, but that the edges of the 
plate are too sharp and need filing (see Chapter III). This should always 
be done after the plate has been bitten in any case. 

When the blankets become hard with damp and pressure there is much 
more likelihood of the edges being severed ; and if a very sharp angle be 
left on the metal it may go through not only the paper but several thick- 
nesses of blanket as well. This is no fairy story: I have known it happen 
in my class at Edinburgh ; and there is no mending a cut blanket. The 
join would mark the proof beneath every time. 

Paper too Dry and too Damp.—If the paper is too dry it will not pene- 
trate into the lines and the result will be a “rotten” quality, lacking 
depth and decision. 

If on the other hand it is over-damp and “thin ” oil is being used for 
the ink, this will “refuse ’’ the water in the paper and tiny white spots 
or bubbles will appear on the surface tone of the proof. This is some- 
times rather pleasing if it happen in the right place, but when too pro- 
nounced or in the wrong place, it is fatal. It, also, is common in Whistler 
etchings of the Venice period, and I remember in particular an impression 
of the “ Long Venice ” which was completely ruined by bands of such 
marks right across the water. With stiffer ink (made with “medium ”’ 
oil) this rarely, if ever, occurs. 

Colour of Ink.—It is well to remember in mixing inks that for a very 
heavily bitten plate a warm ink is not so suitable ; but for very delicate 


96 PRINTING 


etchings the ink may be very brown if desired, and is often most beautiful 
so. The reason is that a strong line is only weakened, and its raison d’étre 
lost, by being printed in brown ; while a delicate line is still more delicate 
when printed in a warm colour and its raison d’étre emphasized. 

I mention this because it is the usual practice to print very strong 
etchings (e.g. Haden’s ‘““Agamemnon”’) in a siena-coloured ink, which 
destroys its whole meaning. This was not Haden’s own intention, the 
prints I refer to being mostly posthumous, or at best printed when the 
artist was nearly blind with age, and could hardly see to sign them. 

There is still another reason for not printing a plate which contains 
both very strong and delicate lines in too warm a colour. 

Kven when only a moderately brown ink is used the heavy lines are 
always blacker and colder than the shallow ones, the tone on the surface 
being naturally warmest of all. In an etching containing great contrasts 
of biting this is often so noticeable that I have many times been asked 
whether two inks had been employed. Sometimes two differently coloured 
inks are used on the same plate—never by me, but I have watched it 
being done in the case, I think, of Alfred East’s large landscapes—but this 
is quite another thing, and is, I feel, a mistake because directly the realm 
of actual colour is entered one is committed to expressing something to 
which the whole medium of the bitten line is foreign and unsuitable. And 
one of the facts which justifies such a statement is that which has just 
been noted: that the colour of the ink changes in relation to the depth 
of the line from which it is squeezed. 

Colour-etchings.—This is why coloured etchings have such a horrible 
“cheap” quality. For instance, a plate printed in blue would show a 
very light blue tint on the surface ; rather stronger, but obviously blue 
passages where the depth was shallow ; and practically black lines where 
the biting had been heavy. Attention is therefore attracted to the colour 
of the lines individually at the expense of their true function, which is 
the expression of form and light and shade. 

Colour can only be printed with success from a “ relief’ block either 
of metal, such as the prints of Blake or William Giles, or of wood as used 
by the Japanese and the new English school, or of stone (not strictly 
“relief,” but a flat surface), the results of which may be seen on the 
hoardings where some magnificent colour harmonies have often been 
shown. 

Lithographic Press.—In the introductory chapter I spoke of the litho- 
graphic press as a substitute for the roller-action machine, and a fair 
impression from an intaglio plate may be obtained from this with careful 
regulation. 

Instead of the rollers there is a “ knife-edge ’’ which can be adjusted 
at any height above the travelling-bed on which the plate lies. The latter 
is then pulled through against the pressure of the “ knife-edge ” which 
scrapes the whole surface as the plate passes, and the blankets are forced 


ce S 2? 


against the paper with considerable “nip.” It is, of course, only a 


PRINTING 97 


substitute, but I know one student who managed to get quite satisfactory 
results in this way. 

Counter-proofs.—Occasionally it may be found useful to see a proof in 
reverse while still working on the plate in order to correct or add with 
greater certainty. To do this a second damped sheet of paper is laid over 
the freshly proved impression and run through the press with not too 
much pressure. It is not easy to avoid creasing with a large etching 
because of the buckling tendency of an unflattened proof. To avoid 
this the margins of the first proof should be trimmed close up to the 
plate-mark, thus leaving a sheet of paper the whole of which is at the 
same tension. 

Cleaning Plate after Printing.—It is very important to clean the ink out 
of the lines with turpentine or “ naphtha ” after printing—not after each 
proof, but when stopping for the day—as the ink soon sets hard in the 
lines, especially when there is much umber in its composition, which is 
very siccative, as painters should know. Otherwise when the plate is 
taken up again for more proofs the lines will be found to be clogged and 
thin proofs result. Heavy lines never yield all their ink; and what 
remains at the bottom is very easily removed while moist. The plate 
should be carefully examined—bending well over the lines—and any that 
are black must be cleaned until copper-coloured. 

To Remove Dried Ink in Lines.—If, however, by accident a plate has 
been left until the ink is set, the remedy is to rub in caustic soda with a 
rag. A small bottle of this salt in a little water should be kept for emer- 
gencies, and a glass stopper is advisable as the cork is soon rotted away 
by the caustic. 

If the ink prove stubborn the liquid must lie on the lines for a time ; 
and in extreme cases, or where drypoint “ burr ”’ is in danger if the lines 
are rubbed, the plate must be placed in a boiling solution. 

But all this trouble is avoided by a little forethought. 

The Press.—Fig. 38 shows my own type of press, with “ wheel and 
spindle ’”’ action. 


A is the upper roller. 
. The lower roller. 18-inch. 
. The travelling-bed. 


se) 


C 

D. The pad of paper on which the plate rests. 

i. The blankets when not in use. 

¥. The spider-wheel. 

G. The outer gearing-wheel. Inside this (at the top) is the small cog- 
wheel, the teeth of which fit into those of the larger cog-wheel. The 
spindle of the smaller wheel is attached to the spider; and the spindle 
of the larger cog-wheel is attached to the upper roller. In order, therefore, 

o turn the small cog-wheel once (which means turning the upper roller 
once) the outer cog-wheel (which means also the spider) must be turned 
four times. By the length of the spokes of the spider one can thus obtain 
tremendous leverage, and by pulling these over quite slowly an extremely 

G 


98 PRINTING 


slow even motion is maintained by the upper roller under enormous 
pressure. 


HH are the metal blocks which give a certain elasticity, held down over 
the cups of gun-metal (which fit over the axles of the roller) by the regu- 
lating screws I. I. 







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Fic. 38.—‘‘ Wheel and spindle”’ Press. 18-inch roller. 


CHAPTER XI 
ADDITIONAL WORK—MISTAKES AND THEIR REMEDY 


I am now going to ask the student to refer once more to trial proofs of 
my own from a definite plate, and to follow their evolution from the 
first state to that of the published etching, some five prints in all. 

This plate, like all the preceding, was of copper, and the work executed 
from a pen drawing upon a dabbed ground, bitten in with the usual half- 
and-half nitric bath, and, though representing a well-known piece of 
architecture, was not reversed. 

There is not a stroke of drypoint, except in the first three proofs, and 
then only the accidental marks where an alteration was made before 
biting (Plate 10). These are a few vertical lines at the top of the main 
buttress to the right (to left of the heavier patch of bitten ones). In the 
originals these lines appear much warmer in colour than the surrounding 
etched work, as they are very shallow, being drawn with a blunt point 
(see close of last chapter). The absence of these strokes in Plates 13 and 14 
is quite visible in the reproductions. 

The little ink held by these strokes is largely due to the “ burr,’ which 
would wear off in the course of a few proofs ; but the treatment for such 
unwanted lines is burnishing. If this is not sufficient the passage must 
be scraped and then burnished, or charcoaled if there is no danger of 
greying surrounding parts by unavoidable overlapping. A few such marks 
will always need removal unless the draughtsman never makes a mistake ! 

Irregular Pressure in Drawing.—A really bad blunder which had to be 
repaired was the weakness of biting in the line of trees in the distance. 
When the plate was in the bath for the first time, it was noticeable that 
this passage had not been drawn firmly enough, or had become clogged 
by sweat from the hand (probably the former, as acetic was used), and 
in consequence was only beginning to be attacked long after the rest and 
very irregularly at that. The only thing to do was to remove the plate 
and stop-out the whole of that part, leaving till the next grounding its 
re-drawing and biting. 

Another passage which failed badly was the water. To the left, the 
reflections (Plate 10) are too jumpy and “ all-overish,” while the vertical 
lines of that of the tree under the bridge are taking away from the effect 
of flatness which the water should possess. 

Re-grounding.—The plate was therefore re-grounded with the dabber 
(Chapter IV), but in cleaning the surface no whitening was used because 
it would be likely to remain in the lines and so cause foul-biting. In this 
case only that part which included the arch and distance was covered, 
i.e. from an inch or so to the left of the arch to the right edge (of the proof). 


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104 


MISTAKES AND THEIR REMEDY 105 


Except in the case of a small isolated spot in the centre of a plate where 
a few drops of acid are sufficient to bite—these can be absorbed by blotting- 
paper—some portion of the edge of the plate should always be included 
in re-grounding. This is to allow the acid to be poured off without passing 
over an unprotected area. The plate is placed upon the heater and some 
ground melted on that part where the deepest lines are (in this instance 
running the ball up and down the arch), and in order to make sure that 
these are filled I rock the dabber vigorously sideways before equalizing 
by dabbing. I generally hasten the cooling by placing the copper upon 
the iron bed of the press, and when practically cold it can be drawn upon. 
Even the most delicate lines of previous biting can be seen through the 
black ground if laid on thinly. 

Having re-drawn the trees in the distance, I added lines to widen the 
arch on the inside, cross-hatching in order to join the new edge to the 
old work. These additions were now bitten by pouring on the nitric. The 
reflections of the distant trees having been sufficiently bitten, the mordant 
was allowed to flow off those lines. A little later, the trees themselves 
having become strong enough, the plate was again tilted to cause the 
liquid to collect only round the arch and large tree, the wall beneath which 
was also re-worked. When these were ready the ground was removed and 
the proof (Plate 11) pulled, showing the alterations so far carried out. These 
being satisfactory, the next thing to do was to cut out completely the 
whole passage of the river: drastic but necessary. 

Planing-out.—A broad piece of ‘‘ Water-of-Ayr ”’ stone accomplished 
this with some labour, and the surface regained by the aid of charcoal 
and polish (Chapter III). After that the ground was laid over the lower 
half of the plate only, and the reflections re-drawn and bitten in the same 
way as before ; some new work being added to the bank in the foreground 
and some foul-biting helped and encouraged a little to left of the signature. 
The result of the last was a tone over the foreground which did not har- 
monize with the existing lines (Plate 12), and, although I thought at first 
that the water was more satisfactory, after a while I determined to try 
the effect of vertical lines for the reflections. 

Re-planing.—Once more the surface had to be planed away. This was 
accordingly done, and the reflections drawn and bitten in the same way 
as before. 

When the proof was seen it was disappointing and at once condemned 
(Plate 13). The only improvement was the passage of foreground which 
was simpler and better, having a few strong lines instead of many weak 
ones. Once more an interim of snakestone, charcoal and polishes—and 
by now I was rather tired of grinding—and the river was again blank. 
This time there was no need to remove the lines of the bank, as those 
had been “ passed.” 

At last the reflections were more happily drawn and bitten and appeared 
as in the final state (Plate 14). Between this and Plate 13 there were, 
however, two intermediate states, but the additions were too slight to be 


106 MISTAKES AND THEIR REMEDY 


noticeable in a reproduction, and in any case would add nothing to the 
points already made. 

It is worth noting that during the progress of the plate—seven states 
in all—the bridge itself (excepting the underneath of the arch) and the 
rock to its left remained exactly as first bitten. 

It is important to think well before making changes—even slight ones 
may, and often do, ruin a plate—which may be found afterwards to have 
been greater mistakes than those they were designed to obviate. It is so 
easy to lose the original freshness and clean precision of a direct biting. 
Even in the case of the most successful additional work, where the old 
lines are crossed by new, there is invariably a loss of spontaneity— 
extremely slight, it may be, but none the less a loss—in spite of the fact 
that the work may gain as a whole. 

This is one of the reasons for selecting the plate illustrated, as, if the 
last three states are compared, it will be seen how closely the first and 
third approach each other and how entirely off the track was the inter- 
mediate state.t 

In many instances when one makes a blunder there is no going back : 
a new plate must be begun. 

The ‘‘ Crevé.’>— We will now suppose that a very deeply bitten passage 
covering only a very small area had to be removed and re-drawn (e.g. the 
small arch to left of the bridge in the last illustration). The cutting-out 
would proceed as before: first scraper, then stone, and finally charcoal. 
But the hollow thus formed would hold a certain amount of ink and 
remain untouched by the hand in wiping the plate, the result in the proof 
being a dirty tone less polished than the surrounding surface. 

‘** Repoussage.’’—The remedy for this is what is termed in French tech- 
ae ST Repoussage, or hammering-up from the back. 

A smooth steel anvil or suitable sub- 
stitute is necessary to hammer on; a 
pair of curved compasses or callipers 
(Fig. 39) for marking the spot, and the 
small polished hammer itself (Fig. 40). 
It is useful to have a piece of chalk in 
——E that arm of the callipers which is placed 
Fic. 39.—Callipers : upper of metal ; to the back of the plate. The upper 

lowenotmoed: arm is placed on the spot to be 
hammered, the callipers closed so that 

the chalk marks the corresponding position on the back; the plate 
turned face down on the anvil (care being taken to avoid scratching 
the surface) and the marked spot tapped smartly with the small end of 





1 As an astonishing example of the same return to a previous state see Whistler’s 
« Bridge,’ K 204, where there is only the slightest difference between the first 
and last (8th) states. Even the butterfly was removed and finally replaced almost 
in the exact spot, but less cleanly drawn. I saw a last state of this plate wrongly 
described as a Ist state some years ago in Glasgow 


MISTAKES AND THEIR REMEDY 107 


the hammer. Examine the front between the strokes, and if by too 
much force the face is over-hammered it must be very gently tapped 
down again with the broad face of the hammer. 

When level the charcoal will be required to equalize the surface, and 
this done, it can be worked over again or not, as desired. 





Fic. 40.—Hammer for Repoussage. 


Faking a Proof.—It is often possible to avoid hammering-up by using a 
little extra care in printing such a crevé, cleaning it out with the finger 
before finally wiping the surrounding surface. But it is far better to have 
the whole plate level, and to avoid “ faking ”’ in printing ; and this becomes 
doubly necessary if the plate is to be given out to a professional printer. 

If the planing of a large area (as was necessary in the foregoing etching) 
is left out of count, the whole of the re-grounding and biting does not take 
long. There is no need to “ allow the ground to stand 24 hours ”’ or any- 
thing of that kind. If there were, one would lose all interest in the work 
before the third state ! 

I often work on the new ground while it is still warm if a small patch ; 
but the acid must always be carefully watched and some blotting-paper 
be ready to stop the action immediately if anything goes wrong. 

Re-biting Original Lines.— Besides adding new lines over old, it is often 
required to re-bite the original furrows, and to lay a ground for this 
purpose one may use either the dabber or the roller. If the dabber is 
preferred, some ground must be melted on an adjacent part of the plate 
(or a second plate), and the amount upon the dabber having been reduced 
and equalized by striking it upon a clean area between the source of supply 
and the lines to be grounded until only a very thin film is left by it, the 
plate is allowed to cool a little to avoid possibility of the ground running 
down the edges of the lines and these cautiously dabbed over very deli- 
cately, borrowing ground as required from the supply. If it becomes too 
cool to move, the plate must be warmed again just enough to soften the 
wax. It is easier to burn a ground so thinly laid, and besides the fine 
lines will be filled by the melting. 

It is advisable to allow some time for the ground to harden before 
biting, but, in any case, it is very liable to give way, being thinner than 
is safe. Heavier lines can, of course, be more easily re-grounded and with 
a thicker coating, but at all times the junctions of the lines (where crossing) 
will be rounded off and a certain crispness lost, and it is not a process to 
recommend when there is any alternative. 

It is safer to use nitric (weaker than usual) for this purpose, as one can 


108 MISTAKES AND THEIR REMEDY 


see exactly what is taking place by the bubbles, and although the “‘ Dutch”’ 
bath would appear to be less trying to the ground, it is much more 
insidious. If foul-biting begins, one must be able to detect it immediately 
to stop the action, but the slower mordant eats into the smallest hole and 
gives no warning till the damage is done. 

Re-grounding Roller.—Re-grounding with the roller is more reliable 
than with the dabber in most hands, but I once knew an old-school engraver 
who was said to be able to dab a re-biting ground perfectly with absolute 
certainty. The plate must be flat if the roller is to be used. Itis employed 
exactly as when grounding in the first place, the necessary thinness of film 
being obtained by rolling on a second plate, or, if the paste is used, upon 
glass (see Chapter IV). 

The plate in this case must not be rolled up more than once or twice 
for fear of filling the lines, and the work must be done very delicately, 
and left unsmoked. 

As for oil of lavender paste I cannot speak from experience, as (beyond 
once making some) I have never found the slightest use for anything of 
the sort. It is horribly slow drying, and cannot be heated to drive off 
the oil in this case for fear of the ground running into the lines. 

Using ordinary black ground (or transparent, if preferred) is perfectly 
feasible, but the plate to be grounded should be almost cold, for the same 
reason as that given in the case of dabbed ground. 


CHAPTER XII 


TRANSFERRING FROM ONE PLATE TO ANOTHER—‘ NEGATIVE’? AND 
‘* RELIEF’ ETCHING 


SUPPOSING all the expedients for saving a badly drawn or bitten plate 
to have failed, as they very nearly did in the case of the Toledo etching 
described in the last chapter, there remains the possibility of doing better 
on a fresh copper. But in nearly every case there will be some passage 
on the original plate which one is loath to abandon. It is as right in draw- 
ing and biting as it can well be, and one feels that the probability is that 
in re-drawing this will be lost. 

In order to save this drawing as much as possible there is a method of 
transferring the design from the old to a new plate, and it is a very useful 
one. It was practised by Whistler at least once, and then with great 
success ; the known instance (as described by an American! who was 
working with him in Venice) being that of the two “ Traghetto ”’ plates. 

First of all ordinary flake-white (as used for painting) is rubbed into the 
lines and the plate cleaned off in the usual manner, the finishing being 
done with the hand in order to leave as little as possible upon the surface. 
The second plate, which has been grounded long enough to have become 
quite hard, is placed ready near the press, and the first proved on any 
thin paper one happens to have. ‘Tissue-paper or soft brown paper is 
suitable, and it must be damped as usual (see Chapter XVI). 

Full pressure is required for this, but before lifting the proof the press 
must be slackened. I do this simply by removing half my blotting-paper 
pad, or one of the blankets, which is much quicker than monkeying with 
the screws. When the press is ready put the new plate upon the bed 
(ground side up) and remove the proof from the first plate, placing this 
face down upon the grounded surface, great care being taken to adjust 
the corners, especially if the second plate is exactly the size of the first. 

My experience is that, as the paper is already drying at the margins, 
it does not easily cling to the second surface and is inclined to jump for- 
ward a fraction of an inch when the pressure takes it. To avoid this it 
should be held in position until the blanket is placed over it and gripped 
by the roller. Otherwise the whole design will be found a fraction low 
(or high) upon the new ground and necessitate the work being done over 
again. There is no danger of hurting the ground any more than in the 
process of transferring a lead-pencil drawing as already described. 

The plate’s surface should not be rubbed after lifting the paper from it, 
as, though the most delicate lines will be found to have transferred per- 


1 | think Otto Bacher, but it is many years since I read the article. 
109 


110 TRANSFERRING 


fectly in greyish white upon the dark ground, yet the lead takes some 
time to dry and is easily smudged. If a piece of paper is used to protect 
the surface, little harm will be done by moving the hand over this. 

The etcher now has the whole of his previously bitten work to guide 
him in re-drawing, and he can follow the old lines precisely, or disregard 
them in those parts where his first work went wrong. 

Whistler’s object in doing this in the case of his “ Traghetto ” was to 
return to his earlier state. That is, he had gone on working upon the first 
plate until the simplicity of its first state had been lost ; and in drawing 
the second time he wished to pick out the vital lines which were still there, 
but to disregard the later additions which destroyed the meaning of those 
lines. Needless to say, he ended by making an entirely different etching, 
but that was how he began. 

Any passages or single lines which it is desired to remove (either after 
drawing through them or before) can be got rid of at once by a brush or 
feather dipped in acetic acid ; and when the plate is placed in the nitric 
bath all the lead remaining on the plate will disappear instantly, so that 
one cannot rely upon the tracing while the biting is in progress. 

This process of transferring, which I have used for many years with the 
greatest benefit, caused me to experiment still further in the use of flake- 
white as an ink, in what I have termed (faute de mieux) “ Negative ”’ 
etching. I give it here for what interest it may have, and because the 
hint may be found of some use to someone for a particular purpose. 

The idea is to print white lines on dark paper (Plate 15), and to do 
this it is necessary to etch lines on the plate which will interpret the 
lights in the proof instead of the darks. In certain subjects, such as a 
sunset behind a dark object, this might well lend itself to simple treat- 
ment with good results, but I have had no time to experiment very far. 

As several people have remarked with regard to the etching here re- 
produced, its effect approximates to that more easily obtained on wood, 
and this may well be: otherwise I have little doubt the method would 
have been exploited long ago by others more inventive than I. 

The paper which I found print most happily with lead-white was of a 
soft surface ; dark grey (nearly black) in colour, and was probably sold 
for pastel work. 

One must, of course, rely entirely upon the bitten line without any tone 
left upon the surface or other tricks of printing, just as in visiting-card 
wiping ; otherwise the dark of the paper will be spoiled by a film of grey. 
I have often thought this method might be used with success for the 
purpose of reproducing white-line drawings or diagrams in a sufliciently 
expensive publication where original work was needed. 

Probably Baryta white would be more permanent than lead-white, as 


? 


1 Since writing the above I have found a print in white by Hercules Seghers, but 
in this case the lines were not drawn in the first place with this in view. Seghers 
did not etch his lights; merely printed his dark lines in white. Mr. Brangwyn has 
also told me that he made similar experiments, but cannot lay hands upon an example. 


TRANSFERRING 111 


it is not discoloured by the presence of any impurities in the atmosphere ; 
neither does it become translucent with age. It would also be more easily 
wiped off the surface, if only it has sufficient grip to stay in the lines. 

For transfer purposes it would also have the advantage of remaining 
visible during biting, as it is insoluble in nitric and hydrochloric acids. 
This would enable one to bite a plate partially without losing the white 
design on the parts not yet drawn. Not having tried it, I cannot say 
whether it has sufficient binding power to stay in very fine lines when 
printing. 

Of the etchers who have experimented on somewhat similar lines by far 





Exact Size. 


Plate 15 


ILLUSTRATING NEGATIVE ETCHING. 


HERE THOSE LINES WHICH ARE DESIRED TO PRINT WHITE 

ARE DRAWN ¢Y ETCHED; THEN PRINTED IN WHITE ON 

BLACK PAPER. THE HALF TONE PROCESS CAN HARDLY 
SHOW THE CLEANNESS OF THE LINE. 


the most interesting is William Blake. Judging by the proofs rather than 
by what has come down to us in writing, Blake must have used two rather 
similar but distinct methods to produce what have been termed “‘ white- 
line etchings.” The first is illustrated by the magnificent plate the germ 
of which was in a drawing by his brother Robert (Plate 97). 

In this case Blake apparently drew black lines in some stopping-out 
varnish on the bare plate and then bit away the metal between them, 


1 “ Chemistry of Paints and Painting,” by Prof. A. H. Church (1901), p. 136, 


112 TRANSFERRING 


afterwards printing in relief from the black lines which remained 
standing. 

In the second example (Plate 98) he seems to have used an ordinary 
ground and removed this with the point in those parts and lines which 
he did not wish to print, afterwards biting this away, as in a zinco. In 
both methods the result is similar, and the proof is from the relief or 
cameo block, not like that of the etching proper as we understand the 


word. Like all Blake’s work, they are most interesting and artistically 
fine. 


CHAPTER | XIII 
SOFT GROUND AND AQUATINT AND THE PEN METHOD 


WE now come to three processes of etching, two of which are not so much 
used nowadays as they were a hundred years ago, while the third is but 
an amusement. Soft-ground (vernis mou) is nearly allied to etching proper 
and really stands half-way between it and aquatint. Therefore, and 
because it is more often employed as a preliminary guide to the last named, 
I will take soft-ground etching first. 

The principle of working is a simple one in theory—more difficult in 
practice—and consists in laying a ground which has the property of stick- 
ing to whatever touches it, and can be readily removed from the plate 
by this means ; leaving the metal exposed to the action of a mordant in 
those places, but nowhere else. 

The drawing is actually done upon a sheet of paper laid over the ground. 
The pressure of the point, heavy or light, upon this covering causes the 
wax to adhere more or less to its under surface. When the drawing is 
finished the paper is peeled off, and, wherever the point touched, the 
ground comes away with it. 

Soft-ground Recipe.—To make a suitable ground, an equal quantity— 
in hot weather as little as one-third—of tallow is melted with ordinary 
etching-ground in a clean glazed pot, in the manner described (see Chap. IV) 
in making all grounds. The orthodox procedure is to wrap the balls so 
made in silk, but there is no need to do this nowadays if the mixture is 
free from impurities as good makers send it out. The wrapper is merely 
a safeguard against scratching the plate by these impurities. 

Grounding.—The plate must be very thoroughly cleaned—ammonia and 
whitening is safer to use in this case—as there can be no removal of surface 
dirt or grease by a point as in etching proper. 

The same dabber must not be employed for the two grounds, and as 
there is no visible difference between them it is advisable to mark them 
distinctly. 

If hard-ground is adulterated with tallow it will naturally pick up when 
least desired to do so; and if soft-ground has been laid with a dabber 
containing too large a proportion of wax it will refuse to come away where 
it should. 

Very little heat is required, as tallow melts very easily, and the ground 
must not be laid too thickly. One is inclined to put as much on the plate 
as in laying ordinary ground, and this is not necessary and is apt to pre- 
vent the lines being laid open right down to the metal. There being less 
grip in the tallow than in the all-wax ground, the former is merely dis- 
turbed, when the plate is too hot, instead of being equalized, by the 


H 113 


114 SOFT GROUND AND AQUATINT 


dabber. But when laid as smoothly as possible a final heating will help 
the distribution by re-melting. 

Smoking.—Textbooks advise smoking lightly before use: why, I do not 
know. The ground should be already quite impervious to acid, and one 
cannot see the surface when drawing. As for the darker colour enabling 
one to judge the lines better when biting, the contrary is the case, as the 
picked-up lines always appear dark from the beginning and grow still 
darker as bitten. Therefore they are far more easily seen upon a light 
ground. 

In this respect, as in others where I suggest a method opposed to 
tradition, the student will of course decide for himself. 

The grounded surface must not be handled after cooling, or it will stick 
to the fingers, but there is no harm done by laying the plate face down- 
wards upon a sheet of paper in order to bring the edges over the back and 
fasten them with gum or stamp-paper. It is best to damp the paper so 
that in drying it will contract over the face and remain in close contact 
with the wax, but no local pressure must be applied anywhere. 

Papers.—The paper may be of various grains according to the result 
desired in the proof, but it must have some texture. A very smooth surface 
will not work properly. 

A very thin laid paper gives a most satisfactory result, and instead of 
being fastened at the back of the plate may be pinned over it as it rests 
on a board or table. The flatter the paper lies the better, as otherwise 
it will bulge when drawn upon and the continuity of contact be lost. 

Hand-rest.— Unless the etcher can work firmly without resting his hand 
upon something, a support of some kind must be rigged up over the plate. 
If much work is to be done in the medium it is worth while to make this 
specially with a board under which 
a cross-support has been glued at 
either end (Fig. 41). In the case of a 
narrow plate (up to 3 or 4 inches high) 
no rest is required, as the pencil will 
y } reach all over the surface quite easily. 
nici Drawing on the Plate——The drawing 
Fic. 41.—Hand-rest for soft ground. 18 executed with an ordinary lead-pencil, 

or any other point which enables the 
artist to see what he is doing. If it were not for seeing his work, 
a steel point would answer just as well. 

Biting.—The plate is now bitten in the usual way with certain fairly 
obvious precautions, such as not pressing too hardly on the blotting-paper 
in drying the surface and not applying too much force in brushing off 
bubbles with the feather, if nitric acid is used. 

Stopping-out.—This may be employed if required, though in theory the 
width of line gives sufficiently marked distinctions of value when all are 
bitten to the one depth. This is accentuated by the fact previously noted 
that the more metal exposed the more rapid the attack. 





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115 


116 SOFT GROUND AND AQUATINT 


The etching here illustrated (Plate 16) was executed in the following 
manner :— 

Metal: Copper. Rhind’s ground, thinly laid and unsmoked. The 
paper: thin “laid”; an old fly-leaf which was too “ foxed ”’ to be useful 
for printing upon. This was merely held over the plate by the left hand. 

Acid : Half-and-half nitric ; the biting—one only—taking five minutes. 
The plate was steel-faced (for the édition de luxe) and printed on Stacey- 
Wise paper of 1880—a blue “ laid.” 

The whole process from grounding to proving did not take half an hour. 

Re-working.—If additional working is necessary it is quite possible to re- 
ground and add lines, but a very transparent paper will be required to 
see the old lines. Tissue is serviceable if one is careful not to press too 
hardly or suddenly and not to sharpen the pencil too finely. By this 
means even a single line, or dot, can be added easily, and acid dropped 
on from the feather. Plate 17 shows two states of the same plate. The 
process was identical to that just described, tissue-paper being used for 
the second drawing. The result is not good, but serves as an illustration 
of the method. 

Although with varying pressure in the use of the point stopping-out 
should not be required, it often happens that irregularity of touch will 
cause unequal biting, and in that case stopping-out is used in the 
ordinary way. 

The biting without stopping-out where the lines vary principally in 
width and not in depth is comparable to the use of several needles of 
different size in etching proper and then biting to one depth. Itis advisable 
to press rather too firmly in drawing than the reverse, as a line which will 
bite cleanly can always be controlled by stopping-out ; but a too delicately 
drawn one may not bite at all. 

The line bitten by this method is a granulated or broken one resembling 
that of a chalk-drawing on a grained surface, and its quality lends itself 
extremely well to a combination between soft-ground and aquatint. That 
is why it was utilized more largely for the initial drawing upon a plate 
destined to be treated with aquatint tone than the ordinary clean, hard- 
ground line, which by its nature has no affinity with the granulation of 
the resin-process. 

The quality obtained by the broken line is extremely pleasing and par- 
ticularly suitable for the note or sketch, but lacks the decision of the 
needle-drawn method. It is naturally adapted for expressing texture in 
masses—variously grained papers may be used even upon the same plate 
by slipping them under an immovable upper paper upon which the draw- 
ing is made—and, in general, chalk or pencil studies which have been 
treated with a broad point (which would be unsuitable for expressing as 
etchings except in very free translations) lend themselves perfectly to 
interpretation through the medium of soft-ground. 

Probably the greatest master of the method was J. 8. Cotman, and he 
used it more than any other method. His work will be spoken of again 








a 














Plate 17 


ILLUSTRATING SOFT-GROUND ETCHING. 
RE-WORKING. 


THESE TWO STATES SHOW THE POSSIBILITY OF RE-WORKING OVER UNDER-BITTEN PASSAGES. A THIN TRANSPARENT 
PAPER MUST BE USED SO THAT THE OLD LINES MAY BE SEEN CLEARLY. IN THE SECOND STATE, ONLY THE BARGES 
WERE RE-WORKED. RE-BITING THE OLD LINES IS ALSO POSSIBLE. 


he 


118 SOFT GROUND AND AQUATINT 


in Chapter XXIII. Still earlier were the few incomparable plates by 
Gainsborough. 


Aquatint 


In aquatint we have a method for biting tones instead of lines, and in 
skilful hands it is capable of amazing depth and, at the same time, trans- 
parent delicacy. It differs from all methods so far touched upon in one 
important particular: that the ground laid does not entirely protect the 
metal from acid. 

If the grounded plate were placed in the bath, the mordant would 
immediately attack the metal in a series of minute irregular dots which 
would form a tone of equal strength over the whole surface. This would 
be the result were the plate entirely untouched by stopping-out varnish. 

Grounds.—Resin is the material most commonly employed for forming 
this equally porous ground. Asphaltum is also used, but I cannot speak 
of it from personal experience. There are two ways of getting the resin 
on to the plate: floating it by means of a solvent (spirits of wine) and 
dusting it on in its powdered, dry state. 

The more certain method is the dust process, but still more delicacy 
can be obtained with the spirit preparation. Judging by the work of the 
old aquatinters of a hundred years ago the spirit grounds yielded extra- 
ordinarily delicate and perfect results, and they appear to have been able 
to control it with certainty. I have found it very treacherous in the little 
experience I have had, but I find most of the artists who have used it 
express the same verdict. 

The method usually adopted for dusting a plate is to disturb the 
powdered resin in a confined space, allowing the particles to settle upon 
the surface of the metal. | 

The Dust-box.—There are several up-to-date ‘“ dust-boxes”’ sold by 
dealers for this purpose. Those which contain a revolving fan worked 
from without by a lever, and the clumsier contrivance which allows the 
whole box to rotate on an axis. When I was working at this medium 
I could not afford to buy such a thing, even had I known where to procure 
one, and my own box was made from a small sugar packing-case. A sliding 
tray was let in at one side near the bottom and a hole made to allow the 
insertion of the nozzle of an old-fashioned pair of fire-bellows. The 
powdered resin being placed on the floor and the tray—a grid—withdrawn, 
the bellows were brought into action until the inside of the box was filled 
with floating dust. 

The plate, which had been thoroughly cleaned previously, was placed 
on the grid face up and the tray slid into the box. 

If a very coarse ground is wanted, this should be done immediately after 
stopping the bellows, as the larger (heavier) particles of resin fall to the 
bottom first ; but for a finer ground sufficient time must be allowed for 
these to settle before pushing the tray into position. Experience in timing 
may easily be obtained, as the plate may be tested any number of times 


SOFT GROUND AND AQUATINT 119 


before finally fixing the resin by heating. The plate must be very care- 
fully removed to the heater. 

A breath will disturb the dust upon the cold plate, so it must be lifted 
very gently. If the plate has not been heavily enough coated it may be 
returned (after blowing up the dust again) for a second deposit before 
heating. The principle in all dust-boxes remains the same, however the 
dust may be agitated in the first place, and perfect results have been 
obtained recently by John Everett and (Mrs.) Laura Knight by simply 
dusting resin through muslin without a box at all. 

The final heating slightly melts the resin and fixes it to the metal. It 
must not be given too much heat, however, or it will run together: just 
enough to cause the grains to yellow and darken. 

Spirit-ground.—Mr. Robins! gives the following directions for preparing 
the spirit-ground :— 

“Five ounces of finely-ground resin is dissolved in a pint of spirit of 
wine. The bottle is shaken several times during the day and then left for 
another twenty-four hours to allow the impurities to settle. The solution 
prepared will be much too strong, and a fresh bottle is used, and a mixture 
of one-third of the solution to two-thirds of the spirit of wine mixed 
together. If a very fine ground is wanted the second solution is again 
diluted ; for the stronger the solution of resin the larger will be the 
granulation and the coarser the ground.” 

Stapart’s Ground.—Mr. A. M. Hind? gives the following :— 

‘“* Another method of obtaining a perforated ground was invented and 
described by Stapart (Paris, 1773), but it has been little used. He sifted 
sea-salt on to a thin coating of ordinary etching-ground, which was kept 
fluid by heat. The grains of salt sink on to the surface of the plate, and 
when the ground is hardened, these may be dissolved by application of 
water, leaving a porous ground ready for etching.” 

This method is in principle much the same as the “ pen-process ”’ of 
etching described later (see Plate 20). 

Sand-grain Ground.—There is a commonly employed substitute aquatint 
ground which is prepared as follows :— 

An ordinary etching-ground is laid and allowed to harden: the plate 
is placed upon the press bed, and over it a sheet of sand or emery 
paper. The pressure must be very slight when the plate is pulled through, 
otherwise the hard grains of the paper will be crushed right into the metal, 
but properly done the wax is merely cut through and the ground becomes 
porous. The position of the paper is changed or a new piece substituted 
several times, until the surface has been broken up into an intricate net- 
work of fine holes and equally permeable by acid all over. Any degree 
of coarseness or fineness may be obtained by the use of different sand or 
emery papers and by the number of times the plate is passed through 
the press. 


1 “ Etching Craft,’ 1922, p. 194. 
2 “ A Short History of Engraving and Etching,” 1908, p. 12. 


120 SOFT GROUND AND AQUATINT 


The underlying principle of all these grounds is identical, and the 
stopping-out and biting is the same for all. 

Joseph Pennell used this last method with very great success: notably 
in his fine “‘ Courtland Street Ferry,” showing the lit-up windows of the 
tall sky-scrapers of New York. 

Plate 18 is an example of this method. 


‘“‘A Kashmir Bridge—Nocturne”’ (sand-grain aquatint). 


Plate : Copper. 

Ground: Rhind’s, dabbed thinly, passed six times through press with 
coarse sand-paper (a fresh piece each time). 

Acid: Nitric, half-and-half. 

Stopping-out varnish : “ Tower-brand”’ straw-hat polish. 

Before biting: Light on right (stopped). 


Timing: 14 mins. Sky and distant water (stopped). 





2 Upper water between bridge reflections (stopped). 
ee Distant shore on far bank (stopped). 

lv Buildings on right (stopped). 

Dims Bridge (stopped). 

Sa: This completed the boat on right. 
10 mins. 


Whole re-grounded with dabber, leaving the dots open on undermen- 
tioned parts. 





4min. Additional biting on distance to left (stopped). 
1, _ 2 reflections of bridge (stopped). 
lower - f bridge and boat. 

2 mins. 


Total: 12 mins. on deepest darks. 


The plate was steel-faced by Mr. W. C. Kimber, as were “ A Chorten ” 
and “‘A Note of Ronda.” Printed on 1821 greenish paper, clean hand- 
wiped without retroussage, with Frankfurt and French-black and burnt 
umber, thin and a little medium oil. There is no preparatory line-work 
in this plate. It relies entirely upon the stopping-out brush-drawing. It 
is not easy to obtain sharp definition with sand-grain, as the pressure of 
the sand- or emery-paper raises a slight burr which breaks up the varnish 
when applied with the brush and softens each stroke. This is an advantage 
in treating such a subject as the present. This roughness must be removed 
after biting, with charcoal. 

Etched Line as Guide.— Pure aquatint has no line-work at all, e.g. Goya’s 
Por que fue sensible ; but most etchers find it advisable to draw and etch 
—either in soft-ground or in the ordinary manner—an indication of the 
design on the plate preparatory to grounding it for the tone process. 


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121 


122 SOFT GROUND AND AQUATINT 


If this is done the bitten lines show sufficiently distinctly through the 
resin and serve as a guide to the stopping-out brush-work which follows. 
As already suggested, it is better to employ soft-ground if these lines are 
intended to show as an integral part of the composition. 

Example of Usual Method.—We have seen that if the porous-grounded 
plate were placed in the bath, with no stopping-out, the biting would take 
place equally all over and its depth depend upon the duration of the action. 

It follows that if a pure white is required in the proof the varnish must 
be applied before the first immersion. 

In Plate 19 I have chosen a subject which could only be suitably etched 
by means of aquatint, depending, as it does, entirely upon fone for its 
effect. It will be seen that there are two pure white notes: the figures 
crossing the bridge. These were stopped-out before any biting, and, in 
order to be sure of the exact places, I had already etched a very faint 
outline of the main points in the composition. This can hardly be detected 
even in the original, because the aquatint tones were much stronger than 
the first guiding lines. 

The plate was of zinc and the acid fairly strong nitric; the ground 
resin dust. We can follow the successive baths easily, as this proof is the 
first pulled from the plate. I cannot give exact duration of bitings as the 
plate was etched many years ago. 

When the varnish was dry on the figures the plate was submerged and 
removed almost at once, washed and dried. The resin being hard and 
firmly attached to the plate, there is no danger of moving it with blotting- 
paper, as in soft-ground. The lower part of the sky, its reflection in the 
water and the roofs to the left were then painted out, leaving crisp brush- 
marks, care being taken in going round the outlines of the jutting timbers 
against the sky, and the plate once more covered with acid. After another 
very short biting the process was repeated: this time the upper clouds 
in the sky and the top of the boat to the right (also a few other details) 
were stopped. 

The next bath was shorter still, probably a few seconds. This was 
sufficient to differentiate between the tone of the clouds and upper sky ; 
the horizontal lines on the boat below and the rest of its cover in light ; 
the reflections of the same in the water, and so on, which were now painted 
out. Another half-minute or so and the main half-tone of the plate was 
strong enough, and this was treated in the same way. 

The area to be bitten had now narrowed down to the smaller darks, 
and about three or four more immersions, working down to the deepest 
darks of all under the bridge, eaves of the houses, etc., finished the plate, 
which by this time was a mass of overlapping, black varnish-marks. 

The tones of this first state were satisfactory excepting that of the 
recess to the right, immediately above the cover of the barge. This was 
too light, and in correcting it I made the blunder of which the beginner 
should take special note, as it probably happens to most users of the 
medium, 





A Kasumir Cana, The Author. . 87%; X 548. 
Plate 19 


ILLUSTRATING AQUATINT, RESIN GROUND. (Zinc.) 


THE WORK WAs EXECUTED UPON AN ORDINARY RESIN DUST-GROUND & BITTEN WITH NITRIC ACID. THIS IS A 
FIRST PROOF AFTER THE FIRST GROUND WAS REMOVED. A TRACE OF THE ETCHED GUIDING LINES MAY BE SEEN 
IN THE LIGHTEST REFLECTION AT THE FOOT OF THE PLATE. 


123 


124 SOFT GROUND AND AQUATINT 


Re-biting and its Dangers.— Upon re-grounding this portion, the particles 
of resin were too fine, and, instead of allowing the acid to eat a deeper 
series of dots, it permitted the already upstanding points of metal to be 
levelled : thus forming a wide shallow depression of roughened metal having 
no fine specks of the original surface left to give luminosity and no dots 
lower than the general plane to hold the ink. The result in the second 
state was, therefore, a light muddy half-tone. The remedy for this is the 
burnisher (or scraper and burnisher, if necessary), thereby forming a new, 
polished surface upon which a sufficiently coarse ground can be laid and 
an entirely new tone bitten. In re-grounding, therefore, the particles of 
resin should always be larger than those of the previous ground, otherwise 
this biting-away will take place. The best way would be to lay an ordinary 
etching re-biting ground with dabber or roller, leaving the original holes 
open as in Plate 8. 

The differences in these three states are not sufficiently noticeable to 
make it worth while reproducing them, as in half-tone what little dis- 
tinction there is would disappear. 

This plate was drawn from an original by Fred. Parker, an artist who 
died in Kashmir, where the drawings (body-colour on toned paper) were 
executed ; and it was one of a set of three. I was first asked to etch 
them, but as this medium would have been entirely foreign to their nature, 
I finally chose aquatint ; and they are rather translations of colour than 
close reproductions. 

Colour of Ink.—In printing this plate—which was handled in precisely 
the same way as a line-etching—I found that raw umber yielded a more 
beautiful colour with Frankfurt-black than burnt umber. The dark masses 
appeared too hot when warmed with the redder earth; while the raw 
umber has a peculiar greenish quality singularly pleasing in tone subjects. 

Interesting experiments have recently been made by John Everett, 
whose notes appear on pages 364 and 366. Besides using flake-white and 
colours with resin as a stopping-out medium—painting on the plate as if 
on a panel—after removing as much surplus oil as possible, he has latterly 
been biting through colours alone without resin and has found that every 
colour has its own granulation and resisting properties. 

I have suggested that Baryta white would probably answer better than 
lead-white, which is of course attacked by nitric acid, and consequently 
must be loaded considerably in the high-lights. His records of exact timing 
will be found very instructive. 


The Pen Method 


A process which is somewhat akin to soft-ground is illustrated by 
Plate 20. I have never seen an actual etching produced in this way by 
anyone else, but it is described in Lalanne’s treatise and elsewhere. 

A pen-drawing is first executed upon the cleaned copper with ordinary 
ink—I imagine copying ink would be even better—and when dry a thin 
ordinary ground is laid over the ink lines. 


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125 


126 SOFT GROUND AND AQUATINT 


The plate is then submerged in water for half an hour or so, and by 
that time the ink will have become loosened—how the water penetrates 
the wax I don’t know !—and can be gently rubbed away, the ground, 
naturally, being removed with it. The open lines can then be bitten in 
the usual manner, but they are so broad that they become almost crevés 
in places. 

It will be noticed that the character of the pen disappears in the heavier 
biting: the lightly bitten lines reproducing the exact quality of the 
original drawing. 

It is naturally a very unsympathetic surface to work upon—copper— 
as the ink sometimes refuses and sometimes blots, and probably a form 
of gum would answer better in this respect.} 

Plate 20 was bitten in nitric half-and-half strength, and the distance 
stopped-out after five minutes in the bath; the remainder being re- 
immersed for another ten minutes. No additions were made in any way 
after the first grounding, but it is easy to see that re-working would be 
perfectly simple. 


1 Since writing the above I have seen Mr. Everett’s experiments in this medium. 
Instead of ink he uses a mixture of Gamboge and best turpentine. See also p. 197, 
Gainsborough’s method. 


CHAPTER XIV 
DRYPOINT AND MEZZOTINT 


FINALLY, we come to the processes which do not depend upon an auxiliary 
in the form of a mordant to do the actual spade-work. 

I have already introduced the tools necessary for working in drypoint ; 
and, in the opening chapter, defined it as “engraving” rather than 
etching.” 

The peculiar beauty of the medium is dependent upon its power of 
yielding a wonderful velvety richness in the proof. This is due, not to 
the groove which is cut below the surface, but to the “‘ burr ”’ or ridge 
thrown up by the passage of the tool under the lee of which the ink 
shelters from the rag, or hand, during the action of wiping the plate. 

If the burr is removed with the scraper (see Fig. 21, page 48) or 
becomes worn off in the printing, the line below holds comparatively little 
ink, and the distinctive quality of the medium disappears. If this is done 
consistently throughout the work, the result is practically that of a very 
delicate engraving. 

It is generally found to be expedient to retain the burr in heavy passages 
while removing it wholly or partially in delicate ones. This it is which 
gives drypoint its tremendous range in strength of line, far exceeding 
anything produced by etching. In such plates as Muirhead Bone’s 
“Demolition of St. James’s Hall—Interior”’ (Plate 132) this contrast of 
values obtained by leaving and scraping off the burr is seen to perfection ; 
while in Strang’s ‘‘ Legros ” we have an example of pure line with practi- 
cally no burr worth mentioning (Plate 122). 

One great advantage over all etching methods possessed by our present 
medium is that plates can be worked directly from nature and the result 
seen as the drawing progresses. Further, there is no need to carry a 
chemist’s shop about with one, nor is there any risk of spoiling unbitten 
plates by damaging the ground. , 

All that one requires is a bare plate, a point, scraper (and oil-stone), 
burnisher and a small tin of some greasy substance to rub into the lines 
as one works. I myself use a little ink (or dry black) mixed with vaseline. 
The vaseline prevents the ink drying; can be moved about easily, and — 
left in the lines for a long time without fear of setting hard. But every 
artist will have his own preference in this matter, and anything will serve 
which enables one to see the work clearly in black against the shining 
copper. A further advantage in an oily substance is that it prevents the 
metal glittering too much and allows one to see better, especially in 
artificial light. 

Examples of Working.—I have often worked from the life by electric 


127 


128 DRYPOINT AND MEZZOTINT 


or gas light without a screen, as, for instance, in the case of the head 
illustrated (Plate 21). This was drawn on the copper as it appears here 
except for a few minor additional strokes added as the edition was printed. 
A steel point was used throughout and very little burr removed. The 
plate lasted for about thirty impressions without retouching, and ten more 
after a little strengthening. 

The second illustration shows the burr utilized to its utmost capacity 
for yielding solid blacks such as one might expect from mezzotint (Plate 22). 
In this case the back of an old plate which had plenty of foul-biting (acid 
having penetrated the varnish owing to friction while in the bath) was 
selected in order to hold a strong tone in printing. The snow on the 
wreaths was then burnished (after the drawing was made) to destroy 
locally this tone-holding roughness of surface. 

In order to throw up as much burr as possible in the darks the steel 
(diamond would not answer so well) must be really sharp and held at 
rather an acute angle. Ifthe point is nearly perpendicular very little burr 
will be raised, while, down to a certain angle, the more it is slanted the 
heavier the ridge thrown up on the opposite edge, and the more easily 
this wears off. Beyond this very acute angle, the point, especially if at 
all blunt, will cut a portion of metal right out of the line instead of pushing 
it up on one side as burr (see Fig. 44). 

In printing a richly burred plate some of the looser particles invariably 
come away in the first proof and, generally, there is more difference 
between this and the immediately subsequent impressions than is notice- 
able between any two of the next twenty or more when the plate has 
“settled down.” After this the ridges themselves, though not worn off, 
become polished on their crests, and as the hand cleans these there appear 
lighter centres in each originally solid-black line. This is when the proofs 
begin to look “ tired,” although the plate is by no means yet worn out, 
and in printing lines that have reached this condition a little retroussage 
may bring the ink over the crests of the ridges, thus hiding the worn 
appearance. But no dodges in printing can regain the velvety richness 
of an early impression. 

Diamond-point.—As I have already stated in Chapter V, the diamond 
(or ruby) point has the advantage of steel in that it can move freely in 
any direction and at any angle. There is a danger of a finely pointed 
diamond flaking off if it is used too roughly over heavy lines, but on the 
virgin surface there is no need to fear. 

In the third drypoint illustrated (Plate 23) the sky was entirely worked 
with a diamond cut to rather a blunt (round) point, and the free lines 
would hardly have been possible if steel had been used. The heavy crossed 
shadows in the foreground were steel worked : such straight strong lines 
being cut far better with the sharp metal point. Unfortunately, this fine 
diamond work (where the little burr thrown up is retained) wears most 
rapidly ; and obviously no re-working is possible, short of removing the 
whole passage and re-drawing. A certain amount of strengthening is 


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131 


132 DRYPOINT AND MEZZOTINT 


possible, if necessary, in such an isolated dark as the interior of the cart, 
or the figures in the previous illustration. This present plate only yielded 
thirty-one impressions. 

All three drypoints were executed upon commercial copper. 

Printing.—A drypoint is nearly always finished to advantage with the 
palm of the hand or fingers, and as there are no deep lines there is no need 
to cover the whole surface thickly in inking-up. In avoiding this some- 
times the plate may be “ nursed,” as it follows that the less put on the 
less friction there will be in removing it again. A very little ink is 
enough to catch in the burr, and a wipe over the unworked portions 
with a soft rag will make sure that a tone will be left over the whole 
surface. 

A proportion of ink must always be rubbed over the whole of a plate 
—however thin a film—between every proving: otherwise, if any area 
is left uninked, a white spot will show up in the print. 

Any device which tends to nurse a drypoint is worth trying, and the 
inking roller 7 good condition is one of these. 

The rocking motion of the old dabber, still so largely in use amongst 
professionals, must, in the nature of such an implement, help to rock off 
the burr. <A hard roller, on the other hand, is worse than anything and 
will roll every raised line flat in no time; hence the prejudice, probably, 
against using a roller at all. 

A very stiff ink—i.e. made with strongish oil—is also very risky to use 
on drypoint plates, and “‘ thin ”’ oil with a touch of “ medium ”’ is quite 
strong enough to print heavy burr richly if not too liquid. 

Lines Magnified.Seen beneath a low-power microscope there is but 
little difference between the lines resulting from the use of steel and 
diamond-points, but 7 ratio to pressure the diamond yields a stronger and 


(unless very finely cut) broader mark. This is 
| ! because it raises more burr on both sides of the line 
like blunt steel, but being of a light powdery 


nature this soon wears off. 

In Fig. 42, A is the line made by the diamond ; 
| B by steel. In Fig. 43, A represents the line made 
by blunt steel; B the jerky, burred line left by 
sharp steel in an attempt to draw freely; C the 
line left by a diamond under the same pressure 
as A. I have exaggerated the differences some- 
. Ma what in all these diagrams, otherwise they 
Fie. 42.—Diamond and would not tell suffici- 

steel lines—relative : : 
Tag ites ently in reproduction. 
The blunt steel hardly 
raises a burr under light pressure: merely “4 
dents the metal. But it must be remem- 
bered that, with the steel, the more pressure 
applied the stronger line, but the less freedom. 























Fic. 43.—Relative freedom. 


DRYPOINT AND MEZZOTINT 133 


In Fig. 44 we have the line cut by a blunt steel point at a very acute 
angle: a broad shallow trench from which the burr has been entirely cut, 
as in the case of a burin. 

At a less acute angle a blunt tool will generally produce a “rotten ” 
line in which the burr is broken into short lengths which are liable to 
come away soon in printing, and while they do stand, only print a broken 


, a ae 



































Fic. 44.—Loss of burr due to too Fic. 45.—Rotten lines due to 
acute an angle of blunt point. blunt point. 





line (Fig. 45). A and B show this line from two positions ; C and D the 
same inked from above and in profile; B, C and D are greatly enlarged : 
drawn with the aid of the microscope. 

It will be noticed that the top of the burr (as it curls over) presents a 
smooth surface to the rag or hand, and consequently shows as a series 
of light dots in the proof when polished (see C and D). It should also be 








Fic. 46.—Good lines— Fic. 47.—Good lines— 
acute point. vertical point. 


noted that the burr curls inwards towards the point, not (as it is always 
drawn in textbook diagrams) outwards. 

Fig. 46 shows a strong drypoint line as it should be when a burred line 
is required, the angle of the point being rather acute. A is the bare line; 
B the same inked-up. Below are the same in section. 

Fig. 47 represents a greatly enlarged line drawn with a nearly vertical 


134 DRYPOINT AND MEZZOTINT 


needle, the burr being raised on both sides almost equally. A is the line 
in good condition inked-up ; B the same with burr worn or scraped down ; 
C the same with burr entirely removed by the scraper. Their correspond- 
ing sections are below. 

It will be seen in the last figure how greatly the burr adds to the width 
of the line. Without burr the groove corresponds to the size of the point 
which cut it, as in lightly bitten etching; but, plus burr, the line may 
be twice that width. As a matter of fact, 1 have made the width of the 
line itself too great in relation to that of the ink held by the burr in the 
case of a strong line. 

All lines cut with a point—even a diamond—are grooved on their inside 
surfaces with parallel marks, and these help to retain the ink, although 
the trench may be very shallow. 

Alterations.—Corrections are very easily made in drypoint, because, as 
we have seen, so little metal is removed from the surface, the strength 
depending principally upon the upturned ridges. This means that the 
sides of the lines are comparatively easily closed up by pushing them 
together with the burnisher. If the passage is to be re-worked with heavy 
strokes, there is no difficulty at all; but if the original surface has to be 
recovered in order to print a clean tone from it, there is often considerable 
labour to erase the scratches altogether, as under heavy pressure the 
faintest indications of a line will show up in the proof. With care and 
patience—using the methods described in Chapter I[]—anything can be 
done, and the freshness of the surface kept intact. It need hardly be 
added that no more pressure than is absolutely essential should be used 
in printing, as the burr is flattened every time the plate passes under the 
roller ; and no unnecessary trial-proof should be pulled. The work should 
be carried as far as possible before proving. 

I remember, a few years ago, when I took a plate to prove at a printer’s 
how he exclaimed, “‘ Do you mean to say that’s the first impression ? ” 
“Certainly; why?” “ But it’s nearly finished !”’ He was accustomed 
to students from the etching schools, and his remarks seemed to indicate 
that it was really quite against the rules to carry a plate so far without 
a proof! But it is a very sound principle to work on. 

Mezzotint.—Mezzotint has nearly gone out altogether. There are still 
many collectors of the eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century schools, 
but few take any interest in it as a live art. The man who has carried on 
the tradition of the “ great period ”’ in the finest way is Sir Frank Short, 
but he is an isolated modern showing us that what the old mezzotinters 
did can still be done. Short’s completion of the Turner “ Liber Studiorum” 
plates was a splendid achievement, and the prints rank with those executed 
in Turner’s own time. Though the etched line has hardly the vigour of 
biting given to it by Turner himself, the luminosity and richness of the 
mezzotint is fully equal to that of the master or his engravers. 

The process is such a laborious one that few artists can summon the 


1 See note by Blampied, p. 352. 


DRYPOINT AND MEZZOTINT 135 


courage or command the necessary staying power to carry it through. 
In principle the medium is reversed drypoint, the burr being first raised 
all over the plate so equally that a proof from the unworked plate would 
yield a solid black. 

Everything which is required to print lighter than this black has to be 
scraped more or less strongly ; until, in order to produce a pure white, 
the original smooth surface of the copper has been regained. 

This at least is the orthodox method of setting about it, but some men 
have avoided part of the labour by only roughening the surface, to begin 
with, in those areas where it was necessary ; working from light to dark 
instead of from dark to light. 

In order to roughen the plate a tool called a “rocker” is used. This 
is a steel chisel having a curved edge serrated with very fine teeth, the 
handle springing from the centre of the 
curve (Fig. 48). 

There is a contrivance which the 
student will find in dealers’ illustrated 
catalogues in which the rocker is 
attached to a long shaft sliding back- 
wards and forwards in a groove in the 
supporting table, which lightens the 
labour of using the tool—laborious even f 
thus aided—with which the plate has 
to be covered across and across in many 
directions, each time taking a definite 
angle, until the face of the copper is cut Lae aCe Soe cot 
up all over into a minutely dotted |) Bie nek ches Warne Uber? 
surface which holds the ink as does the plates. Theltoolataremow inethe 
burr of drypoint. Victoria and Albert Museum. 

Whether this be done at the be- 
ginning, as a whole, or piecemeal as the work progresses, the principle 
remains the same, and good work can be, and has been, done in both 
ways. ) 

To scrape away the burr where required a flatter scraper is generally 
used than that used by etchers (Fig. 49, A and B). The burnisher is the 
same kind of tool as already described, every craftsman probably having 


¢ 








Fic. 49.—Mezzo scrapers and roulettes. 


136 DRYPOINT AND MEZZOTINT 


his own ideal design. To help out the work—to regain burr, for instance— 
variously toothed roulettes are employed. This instrument is shaped like 
the glass-cutter of a glazier: a small wheel running in a socket attached 
to a handle which leaves the indentations of its teeth upon the metal as 
it is rolled up and down the plate (Fig. 49, C, D and E). In C the small 
wheel runs transversely. E is an enlargement of the usual roulette 
shown at D. 

Only unscraped drypoint can compare with mezzotint in the richness 
of its blacks, and it is a medium which might well repay the artist who 
has the patience to use it together with an understanding of subtle 
gradations of tone. 

One of the few moderns who has practised it with some success in 
original work is Joseph Pennell, who did a few nocturnes from his studio 
window in Adelphi Terrace before leaving this country, which showed 
the great possibilities of the medium for effects of that nature. A much 
younger man who shows great promise in original work is R. C. Peter, 
e.g. in “ Dawn” and “ The Storm-wave,”’ the quality in which is very 
individual. 

Our interest in the process here is rather in its use as an auxiliary. It 
has been used in this way by several of the great etchers, as will be noted 
in at least two instances later. 

A man who used it constantly with drypoint was Jacque (Plate 105). 
Another notable instance was in Andrew Geddes’s “‘ Mother ” (Plate 92). 
Mezzotint, therefore, cannot be disregarded in a book of this nature, 
though there is no reason for examining the work of the reproductive 
engravers, which lies entirely outside its scope. 


CHAPTER XV 
PRINTING PAPERS 


Tue finding of suitable paper upon which to print is one of the most 
urgent and difficult problems with which the modern etcher has to deal. 

Till the nineteenth century—about 1820—when the adulteration which 
ended in making cheap paper by machinery began, a good quality article 
could be had for the ordering. Now it is a very different matter, as very 
few firms make really reliable paper at all, and still fewer make one which 
combines those qualities necessary for the printing from an intaglio plate. 

This regrettable state of affairs—simply a matter of supply and demand 
—has caused artists to fall back upon the use of old paper. In itself it is 
a risky proceeding ; but most consider it the lesser of two evils, preferring 
paper which will take an impression well and having the colour which 
only comes from age, to a stronger production more easily obtainable and 
freer from blemishes, yet which will not print so sympathetically. 

The perfect paper should possess (1) Strength: that the proof may be 
handled without fear of tearing, and that it will not disintegrate in the 
course of a few decades as so many book-papers will. (2) Softness and 
pliability : that the damped fibre may be pressed easily into the lines and 
pick up the largest proportion of ink from them. (3) Beauty of texture 
and colour: which enhances the artistic value of the proof enormously. 
(4) Freedom from impurities and decay-germs which may begin to act 
upon the size or fibre after the mounting of the etching, CAIOUS < dis- 
coloration and final ruin. 

The best European papers have always been made principally of pure 
linen fibre (flax) strengthened by animal—sometimes vegetable—size. 
Various other fibres have been added (such as cotton, which gives softness), 
but it is generally conceded that flax makes the most durable article, and 
the practice has been to collect old linen rags. It is suggested that one 
of the modern manufacturers’ difficulties is that linen which has not been 
subjected to chemical laundering is almost non-existent now, and this 
deteriorates the fibre to a great extent. 

The first thing is the reduction of these rags to a very fine pulp, and a 
considerable amount of the permanence or otherwise is due to the care 
taken in this process. 

In machine making the pulp goes through many cauldrons or vats of 
various chemicals in order to bleach it. The colouring matter is added 
and probably a certain percentage of size. The best hand-mades are 
usually guaranteed as un-bleached, and it is the use of bleaching powder 
which makes one suspicious of all machine-manufactured papers.t For 

1 There is always the danger of free chlorine remaining. 
137 


138 PRINTING PAPERS 


durability it is safer to have an excess of acid than alkali, though neither 
is desirable. 

In making by hand the pulp is floated on to a flat tray having a fine 
wire-gauze bottom through which the water drains when the tray is raised, 
a thin film of fibre being left upon the mesh. This is turned out on to a 
sheet of felt. Upon this gauze are various designs which, being slightly 
raised, prevent the film of paper from being as thick in those parts, and 
when the paper is dry and held against the light these thinner portions 
(designs or lines) are seen to be more transparent, and are termed water- 
marks. For so-called laid paper this gauze is composed of fine, close, 
parallel wires crossed at right angles by stouter supports about one inch 
apart. The ridged texture thus obtained is preferred by many etchers, 
as it tends to give quality to those parts of the proof where there is no 
line-work. For wove paper the wire of the gauze is merely woven (as the 
name implies) and has no supporting lines, the resulting texture being an 
equally pitted surface such as that on which the majority of books are 
printed nowadays. 

Now, in hand-making this surface texture and water-mark come entirely 
from the tray upon which the film of pulp settles. The character of these 
will therefore be identical upon both sides, though stronger on one than 
the other ; but on the machine where the pulp is passing—at first flowing 
—forward continually it is impressed upon both sides. The side upon 
which it lies first receives the impress of what takes the place of the “ tray ” 
in hand-making. This is a wire table continually revolving over a series 
of rollers, having usually a woven texture. It then, however, passes under 
a roller which impresses the water-marks and either laid or wove wire 
marks upon its upper surface, and this it is which distinguishes at a glance 
the normal machine-made from the paper made on the hand tray. I say 
“normal”? because there are machine-mades which imitate very closely 
the hand-made laid paper without any apparent difference between the 
two faces. To imitate a wove paper is, of course, comparatively simple. 
The manufacture of the particular imitation I have seen is probably a 
trade secret, but paper-makers have told me that it is a very difficult 
thing to do, and probably entails much slower and more careful running 
of the mill. 

’ After all, there is no reason whatever why machine-made paper should 
be inferior to the other provided sufficient care and trouble be taken. 
The beauty of hand-made is, of course, in its slight irregularity of surface 
and “‘deckle’’ edges. 

Size.—Both kinds have to be sized and subjected to pressure. In the 
one case the continuous roll of paper passes through tubs of heated size 
in its progress along the machine, emerging sized, dried and pressed. In 
the other the sheets are dipped individually, having been piled—a felt 
between each—one on the other, in order to dry and set, and pressed. 

The size is made from the hoofs and horns, etc., of animals, and makes 
the sheets of fibre less absorbent and much tougher and more durable. 


PRINTING PAPERS 139 


According to the late Prof. Church, wheat starch or gelatine are the 
safest sizes for paper, and sizing with leaf-gelatine will be described later. 

It is this sizing which, though necessary for the durability of short- 
fibred paper (such as all European makes), tends to make the fibre less 
easily driven into the lines of an incised plate ; and it is because this size 
has decayed in old papers and the fibre, in consequence, regained its 
pliability, that these take an impression so much more sympathetically. 

The usual drawing, and the few expressly made etching, papers have 
too much size to take the cast of the plate which is essential, and an 
attempt to overcome this difficulty has resulted in the making of soft-sized 
and water-leaf papers. The first is merely sized once instead of twice, 
as is usual, and the second is entirely unsized. Soft-sized paper is generally 
the best etching paper to be had, but there are several reasons for rejecting 
water-leaf. It is too easily torn, does not take the line as cleanly as the 
firmer-surfaced paper, the fibre of which is held together by size, and— 
most important—it is so absorbent that it is too easily affected by the 
atmospheric conditions, and a high percentage of moisture is one of the 
necessities for the germination of mildew spores which are always more 
or less present. The under-sized papers are very good, although never 
quite so sympathetic as those in which the gelatine has become semi- 
destroyed through age, and I can see no reason why a perfect paper should 
not be produced if the exact proportion of size were imparted to a first- 
class flax fibre with perhaps a small percentage of cotton for additional 
softness. 

It would be absurd to imagine that the artists of Rembrandt’s time used 
old paper—and if proof were necessary it is in the watermarks—and what 
was possible to manufacture in seventeenth-century Holland should be 
equally possible in the scientific twentieth, 2f the demand were only sufficient. 

The stock of good, old paper—especially since the re-pulping of much 
during the war—is fast disappearing, and it must be remembered that as 
but little fine paper was made—in England, at least—during the greater 
part of the nineteenth century, and as age alone cannot turn bad fibre 
into good, in the course of the next generation etchers will be forced to 
rely upon modern produce. 

Colour.—One of the chief qualities of old paper is its subtle colour, which 
is quite impossible to imitate by adding pigment to the pulp, because it 
comes from the rotting size having formed a warm film of colour by break- 
ing up the original white surface irregularly. In nearly all modern Western 
papers the pigment employed is too crudely yellow. For beauty of colour 
one has to rely upon Japan. Let us be grateful that, though their art 
has been almost killed. by Westernization, the Japanese still retain a part 
of their traditional sense of colour which in machine-ridden Europe has 
been completely lost. 

An almost white paper has valuable qualities and is preferred by some 
men. It can yield a more brilliant proof than the tinted one (which is, 


1 “ Chemistry of Paints and Painting,” 1901, p. 10. 


140 PRINTING PAPERS 


of necessity, lower in tone), especially when a warm ink is superimposed. 
For delicate, cleanly etched plates there is nothing more exquisite than 
the cold, almost greenish paper—resembling a duck’s egg in colour—which 
was made by Whatman, Cowan and other firms at the end of the eighteenth 
century. It prints perfectly and has a certain lowness of tone which is 
very valuable and which modern makers endeavour to avoid. The colour 
of the paper is entirely a matter of personal preference, and will vary 
with the treatment of each plate. 

Meryon’s greenish paper, which he sometimes used for his sombre, 
strongly bitten, architectural subjects, was of great value to him ; while 
the brilliant warm Dutch paper which Whistler preferred was equally 
important in obtaining his effects. There can be no law; and the search 
for the perfect combination between paper and ink for the given subject 
is one of the chief fascinations of the craft. 

A few generalizations may be permitted nevertheless. When a 
positively bluish or greenish paper is selected, a warm ink will be more 
beautiful upon it, as the cold ground will be modified by the envelope of 
warm brown and yet show through it. The result will be subtler and less 
positive than that obtained in any other way. By reversing this one may 
obtain a rich, beautifully sombre effect in the use of a black ink upon 
warm golden paper. A proof from the same plate printed in warm ink 
upon white paper would be utterly different. 

I have referred, on page 95, to the common practice of warming up 
the ink for very heavily bitten plates, and this cannot be too strongly 
condemned. 

I have already spoken of the danger of bleaching agents. In many 
papers one finds also what 1s called filling. This is a dressing composed 
of various things such as china-clay, gypsum, whitening or chalk, and such 
adulterated papers should be avoided. One Chinese paper I had given 
me has such a heavy filling that one can smell the “ earthiness ”’ when the 
sheet is damped. It is, of course, useless. 

Tinting Paper.— Many etchers in the past have tried to tint white paper 
for themselves. Coffee, tea, tobacco, etc., have been used, but probably 
the most satisfactory stain is stout. The beer is diluted with water accord- 
ing to the strength of tint desired. 

Watermarks.—The watermarks in old papers are not usually so horribly 
obvious as they are made now. I suppose this is due to our tendency 
towards advertisement, but it is a great nuisance. Some of the Dutch 
papers offend very badly in this way. One must remember that such a 
mark is not only seen when held against the light but when the proof is 
flat on a mount. Being lower than the surrounding surface, its edge may 
cast a very faint yet perceptible shadow, sufficient to upset the values in 
that passage. I am thinking of a particular instance where the modelling 
of a forehead in the proof of a portrait seemed different from what I remem- 
bered in previous impressions. Upon looking closely I found that this was 
due to one of the letters of a huge watermarked name. This practice of 


PRINTING PAPERS 141 


heavy-wire lettering began early in the nineteenth century, but it has 
been dropped by some of the better mills in this country recently, e.g. 
Messrs. Green,! who now use an unobtrusive little name at the foot of the 
sheet, quite sufficient for identification. 

Some of the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century marks are very beau- 
tiful and have given their names to the size and shape of the sheets, such 
as “ foolscap ’’—originally distinguished by the head of a jester. Many 
of the old Crown and other papers are worth collecting for the beauty of 
these marks alone, and if “foxed ”’ there is no temptation to print on them ! 

India and Japanese.—We now come to the Eastern papers. Of these, 
Chinese and Japanese are the only ones we need consider. 

The Chinese paper known as India (presumably because it was imported 
by the East India Company) is textureless and of a dull surface, but yields 
a very beautiful proof. Its disadvantage is extreme thinness, which caused 
printers to use it only in conjunction with a stouter backing—generally, 
and unfortunately, plate-paper—which enabled them to handle proofs 
more easily. It is a ridiculous practice and the source of endless trouble 
when such a proof has to be cleaned. In any case plate-paper is disastrous, 
as it is made of poor material and, being unsized, gives mildew germs all 
the encouragement possible by means of moisture. It is most rare to find 
one of these proofs of about the “ sixties ’’ (when it was largely used for 
woodcuts) that has escaped mildew when backed on plate-paper ; but I 
have many of that time upon unbacked India which show no trace of it. 

Of Japanese papers there are many qualities ; some excellent and others 
worthless. They fall mainly under three headings :— 


(1) The soft-surfaced, white Hosho, largely used by the European colour 
woodcut printers. 

(2) The firm, textureless, thicker material (including the vellums), 
Torinoko. 

(3) The thin, darker, harder-surfaced Mino or Usumino (meaning 
> thin’), 


The first of these papers—possibly all, but I have been told that other 
fibres are used—is made from the bast-fibres of the Paper Mulberry, and 
is often called “‘ Mulberry paper.” 

The first and last groups have very distinct wire marks running across 
the sheets at intervals of about 1} inches. In the cheaper qualities of 
the Hosho these are often far too pronounced ; and, besides, these modern 
papers are often heavily adulterated with “ filling ”—easily detected if 
the sheet be torn when it falls out in a shower of white dust—and this 
fact, in papers intended for the Western market, speaks for itself as to 
the durability of the fibre, and should be sufficient to warn etchers against 
its use. When of good quality this paper is probably as durable—certainly 
as strong—as any in the world, and its long silky fibre yields proofs of 
unrivalled quality for many types of etching. 

1 Makers of the “Head” papers. 


142 PRINTING PAPERS 


None of these papers are sized, and though perfectly suitable for printing 
upon in that state, are extremely easily rubbed on the surface when 
carelessly handled, especially where there is little ink upon it. The 
ink in heavily etched passages helps to bind the fibre down, thus 
protecting it. 

Being absorbent (though less so than unsized rag-paper), a proof from 
an identically wiped plate would be a little less brilliant than that printed 
upon.a really soft rag-paper which had been sized. On the other hand, 
so yielding is the fibre, and so clinging, that it picks up more ink from 
both surface and line than any paper, with the possible exception of 
very old and good quality Kuropean makes, which are almost impossible 
to find. 

It is far easier to obtain “‘all there is” from a plate with Japanese 
paper than with any ordinary rag-paper. 

The colour-printers always size this paper (as do the Japanese) before 
using it, and so treated it will stand far rougher handling without the 
fibre lifting. The following is the method for doing this :— 

Sizing Japanese Paper.—Five sheets of ordinary cooking gelatine (Cox’s 
leaf-gelatine is reliable) are dissolved with as much alum as will lie on a 
sixpence, in one pint and a 
half of water, using the double 
saucepan, or pot in an out- 
side tin of boiling water, as 
suggested in Chapter IV. 

The paper is then placed 
upon a board (Fig. 50) which 
slopes down to a vessel at its 
foot in which the superfluous 
liquid is collected, and, using 
as broad a brush as procurable 
—say 5 inch—the size (while 
hot) is brushed on from left 
to right, beginning at the top 
of the sheet and working 
downwards. The paper should 
be raised (with the left hand) 
at its foot while the brush 
passes across its upper portion and only lowered on to the board 
as the brush is about to pass over that particular section ; otherwise 
the air will get under the semi-wet parts—the board will be wet after 
the first sheet—and cause creasing when the brush arrives at the bubbles. 
It is the general practice to avoid wetting the two upper corners, so that 
when the sheet is pinned up on a line to dry the fibre at those spots 
will not give way, as sometimes happens when a pin is fastening the 
wet paper. The alum, besides hardening the gelatine when dry and 
acting as a preservative, causes its better liquefaction in the sizing, 


ce 





Fic. 50.—Sizing. 


PRINTING PAPERS 143 


but it is dangerous to have more in the paper than is absolutely 
needful.! 

I have used this method with English water-leaf paper which I par- 
ticularly wanted to print upon because it was of a peculiar colour (un- 
obtainable otherwise), and quite successfully. 

The second class of papers, being of so much firmer texture, have not 
the same need of a binding substance to prevent surface displacement. 

The hard “ vellums”’ have a shiny, smooth finish which makes them 
unsuitable for printing upon, besides a mottled appearance of texture 
which is anything but pleasing. They are extensively employed, however, 
for large plates, especially by the printers of Bauer’s etchings, which is 
undoubtedly one of the reasons why his wonderful prints have been less 
popular than they merit in this country, where our better class of collector 
does at least know what good printing means. 

But the best Torinoko paper has the strength of the “ vellum ”’ without 
its objectionable gloss and texture. Unlike the Hosho papers, this has no 
wire mark of any kind, being of close, even texture throughout and of 
much deeper colour. The darker shades—rich golden yellow—have great 
beauty, but have been said to bleach when exposed for some time to 
strong light, e.g. that of a shop window. I have never noticed this in an 
ordinary room where prints on this paper have hung for years. 

It is relatively very much more expensive than the two other classes 
of paper—all ‘“‘ vellums ” are—and at the time of writing (1924) at an 
almost prohibitive price when obtainable at all. Kven before the terrible 
earthquake these papers were sold at a ridiculous figure, and no doubt 
it is true that stocks in the hands of middlemen were lost in Tokio, though, 
so far as I know, it is not manufactured to any extent in that district. 

The only firm I know of who used to import this really good paper is 
that of Messrs. Crompton, of Queenhithe, Upper Thames Street, London ; 
but they had, I believe, practically given up supplying it before the 
disaster referred to above. 

There can be no doubt whatever about the durability of this paper when 
not adulterated, and this particular make was said to be in use by the 
Japanese Government for important documents, though this may not have 
been the case. It was specially recommended to me by the late Mr. 
Littlejohn, of the British Museum Mounting Department, who employed 
it for backing valuable old work which had to be lined, etc. It has one 
peculiarity which is shared partially, but not completely, by several similar 
but inferior makes. That is its capability of being split into equal halves. 
All these papers are composed of more or less separate layers, but no other 
that I have tested will part as two complete sheets. In this case the two 


1 In the first issue (June, 1924) of the “Original Colour-Print Magazine,” Mr. 
Urushibara describes his method and gives the following recipe: For Hosho Leaf- 
gelatin 4 0z., alum } oz., water 35 ozs. For Jorinoko, the gelatin and alum are cut 
down by half. According to Prof. Church this seems a dangerously large propor- 
tion of alum (see p. 14 of his book). 


144 PRINTING PAPERS 


layers are readily separated. I have often done this when a plate was 
better suited by thin paper, as both sides can be used equally well. More : 
I have many times stripped the back half from a spoiled print and used 
this a second time, as the ink rarely penetrates to the under sheet ! One 
need not size this paper for printing etchings. 

The third class, Mino, is very easily printed on, as its surface is much 
smoother than either of the preceding groups (excepting the “ vellums ”’) 
and yet is silky and pliable. It is very thin, shiny and of a deeper yellow- 
brown colour, but appears less so when laid upon a white mount owing to 
its transparency. It is probably no more durable than the cheaper 
Mulberry papers and is usually full of flaws, bits of bark and dark fibre, 
showing that it has been carelessly made from unpicked material. For 
certain low-toned effects it lends an air of mystery and unity which the 
same etching on white paper would lack. It has no need of size, and can 
be handled without as much risk as either of the softer surfaced makes. 

There is, of course, a great variety of all kinds of Japanese papers from 
very thick to tissue, but the chief distinction between all good qualities 
and European makes is in the length of fibre, which allows them a much 
greater strength while unsized (and therefore soft) than belongs to any 
of our own modern papers. 

Rembrandt’s Use of Japanese.—There has been so much outcry from 
collectors, dealers and artists in recent years against the use of all Japanese 
papers that the etcher and collector should bear in mind that all imported 
makes were not rubbish, and if treated with reasonable care—and unless 
a collector intends to do this he has no business to collect fine works. at 
all—a proof on Japanese will last at least as long as one upon any other 
sort of paper: probably a good deal longer than on most. 

That Rembrandt used it when he could get it, and that his proofs exist,} 
is sufficient evidence both that he considered the quality which it yielded 
him valuable—seeing that the paper he could obtain from the local mills 
was probably the finest and most sympathetic printing paper that Europe 
has produced—and of its durability. 

Two men who have used Japanese papers most extensively in recent 
times are Muirhead Bone, who printed for a long time almost ex- 
clusively upon the Hosho Mulberry papers, and D. Y. Cameron, who 
employed the thin yellow Mino last mentioned. I have a proof by the 
former artist printed in 1906 upon Hosho which certainly is in as perfect 
condition now as ever it was—after many years (Plate 132), 

Of genuine (skin) vellum and parchment there is no need to speak, as 
they have almost entirely gone out of use; and though Rembrandt 
occasionally used vellum with effect, it is usually an unpleasant sootiness 
and heaviness that the printer obtains, and its contracting and wrinkling 
peculiarities make it a nuisance to the collector. No Japanese paper needs 
to be backed if the method of using blotting-paper described in Chapter X 
be followed, and there is never any necessity to damp the blotting-paper. 

1 There are many—especially of the large plates—in the British Museum. 


PRINTING PAPERS 145 


Indeed, its chief function is to preserve the blankets from becoming wet 
and therefore hard. 

Damping.—Papers take moisture very differently according to their 
composition and hardness of surface. In preparing them, therefore, for 
printing they must be treated accordingly. A firm-surfaced paper, old or 
modern, can be sponged as vigorously as possible without any danger of 
the fibre lifting ; but a soft paper, and particularly Japanese, cannot be 
touched directly with anything damp without being spoiled. 

The aim in every case is the same: to make the paper as pliable as 
possible without excess moisture remaining on the surface. To do this 
it is best to damp down overnight. Longer is hardly necessary unless the 
paper is so hard that it is really unsuitable for intaglio printing, and to 
keep paper damp for longer than is essential is to encourage the develop- 
ment of mildew germs. 

I use a couple of sheets of plate-glass, and usually sponge first one side 
of the paper and then the other ; finally turning once more, sponge it out 
flat on the glass. The reason for this is that most tough papers take 
some time to swell, and the second sponging is not usually enough. It 
is necessary to get out all the air bubbles and creases, because when other 
sheets are piled on the first the size of the swelling goes on increasing in 
ratio to the number added. Therefore I begin with the back, then the 
face, and finally swodge it down by rubbing the back where there is no 
harm done if the fibre begins to come up. With the very non-absorbent 
papers it will be better to sponge both sides and lay in a loose pile till all 
are done ; then turn the pile over and begin again, laying them face down 
on the glass, this time making sure that each is quite flat before super- 
imposing the next. When the last is finished, place the second sheet of 
glass over all and weight down heavily with anything handy. I use a 
batch of old plates. 

By next day the whole mass should be equally permeated with moisture 
and stuck tightly together, perfectly flat. An easy way to get a 
crease in printing is to have the paper buckled when laying it over 
the plate. 

Many people use zinc for this purpose instead of glass, but personally 
I prefer to see the flatness or otherwise of the paper through the glass. 

For Japanese paper, the following 1s based upon the native method of 
preparing the pile of sheets for colour-printing :— 

First count the number of sheets to be damped. Then, if a thick non- 
Mulberry paper is to be treated, take half that number of pieces of blotting- 
paper and one more. Divide this again and put the half (leaving aside the 
odd sheet) under the tap until entirely saturated throughout. This is now 
interleaved with the remaining dry blotting-papers and put under the 
glass and strong pressure. I use the same press—a copying press—that 
I employ for flattening proofs later on. 

After this has stood, to become equalized all through—an hour or two 
is best—it is ready to receive the printing sheets. These are placed in 


K 


146 PRINTING PAPERS 


pairs between the moist damping-sheets, and the whole again put under 
pressure for the night. 

The Japanese use the coarse outer wrappers which are used to protect 
the outside sheets of every ream, but blotting-paper is, I think, more 
suitable still. 

For the thin papers—especially if unsized—less moisture is required, 
and therefore four or six printing sheets may be alternated with every 
damping sheet. The moisture naturally settles to the bottom of the pile 
to a certain extent, so it is as well to turn the whole pile upside down in 
the morning before beginning work; but this is not necessary. 

It is a good thing to print a large number at a time, if possible, because 
one sometimes—often—only gets into the trick of a plate’s special require- 
ments after a large batch has been pulled ; and when one is just “set ”’ 
(to use a cricketing term) it is very annoying if one must stop work for 
the lack of paper or ink in just the right condition. Therefore it is better 
to damp a full number of sheets, always inspecting them carefully before- 
hand for flaws, and remembering that some are almost certain to be spoilt 
in the printing. If the etcher needs thirty, he is wise in allowing thirty- 
five sheets at least, and if he is exceptionally lucky the remainder can be 
kept damp for the next day or dried and re-damped another time. 

There are days when the experienced printer does not spoil a single 
proof, but they are red-letter days and are offset by the periods when 
nothing will go right. But to have the paper in good order is at least the 
first step in making sure of a successful printing day on the morrow ; and 
the same with ink and blankets. If the paper shows moisture on the 
surface, it is too wet for printing with thin oil, and it is almost impossible 
to damp Japanese papers just before printing without leaving it too 
saturated. If this is done it can be dried by holding over the heater ; but 
it means uncertainty. 


CHAPTER XVI 
FLATTENING AND MOUNTING 


Flattening.—We will now assume that a good series of proofs has been 
pulled and consider their subsequent treatment. 

In the first place they must be flattened to allow them to be seen to 
the very best advantage and because, otherwise, they will be creased and 
the surface broken in supporting the weight of other prints or mounts in 
their buckled condition. 

The ideal way to flatten would be to have a framework which clamped 
down upon the margin all round while the proof was still damp and held 
the edges during contraction (as in stretching with the edges pasted), but 
this is not practicable for large editions, and stretching with paste means 
the probable sacrifice of the deckle-edges by having to cut them away 
when the proof is removed. 

This loss is of no real importance, especially when the proof is covered 
by a mount, but for some reason one likes to preserve the irregular deckle 
where possible. In any case, it takes too long for the etcher himself to 
undertake the stretching of a large edition. 

So, after all, the only practical method is to employ pressure. If the 
proofs still remain upon the blotting-paper they are peeled off very care- 
fully, or the surface will be cracked. 

Unless the blankets in the press were very damp-hardened and had less 
elasticity than they should have possessed, most papers come apart 
without any effort, but in exceptional cases it is best to place the whole 
in a bath of water and sponge the blotting-paper away or rub it off with 
the finger-tips. This must be done when a make has been used in which 
the size is very soluble in cold water and the printing paper, being ex- 
tremely sticky when printed upon, has stuck to the blotting-paper backing. 
Of course, if one knows of this peculiarity in time, the best thing is to 
remove the one from the other immediately after printing before the size 
has dried. 

Some modern etching-papers are very bad in this respect, particularly 
one called by the name of a living etcher, though I believe this was pro- 
duced by the same English mill that has turned out some very excellent 
printing-papers. As these have no makers’ names it is not easy to find 
out by whom any given article was manufactured. 

The proofs once free from the backing are well sponged from behind— 
no harm in gently damping the front as well—and the flatter they can be 
made,to lie the less risk of creasing under pressure. In the case of Japanese 
paper they can be either sprayed with a fixing-spray or passed through the 
bath, when they instantly become fully saturated. 


147 


148 FLATTENING AND MOUNTING 


I interleave these wet sheets with old used blotting-paper which takes 
up the surface moisture, and when all are done I re-interleave them with 
new sheets instead, taking care to have at least three extra blotting- 
papers at either end of the pile. This is now placed between boards— 
three-ply is excellent—and the whole screwed down in a copying-press 
(Fig. 51), not too heavily for the first time, in case any prints crease. 

Now follows the tedious 
process of changing the 
drying-sheets. The more 
quickly this can be got 
through the safer for the 
SST proofs, so far as mildew 
| growth is concerned, and 
in no case should prints le 
more than a day without 
i i being changed. I usually 
Dr ua finish the whole drying in 

* oe fil lh little more than twenty-four 
5 =e hours, sometimes in less 
than twelve. 

Blotting - paper rapidly 





SARA Ge 











SANNA 83 


WAWSAVWS 





PRS 


ime, 
q i 


: zs absorbs moisture from the 
a =f proofs, and there is no point 
Fic. 51.—Press for flattening proofs. in leaving them together 


for a moment after equaliza- 
tion has taken place. At the first drying this takes place within a 
minute or two ; the time after it takes longer, but at no time very long. 

The important point to remember is that blotting-paper is never much, 
if any, drier than the atmosphere; and that, in this country, is rarely 
very dry! Therefore when the prints are, apparently, as dry as normal 
blotting-paper they will still contain enough moisture to cause them to 
buckle slightly on the surface when removed and exposed to drier air or 
air in motion. Buckling is fatal to any delicate etching, and, to guard 
against this, I always heat the blotting-paper before a gas fire till steam no 
longer issues from it previous to the final drying. This ensures the absolute 
dryness of the proof when removed and guarantees its remaining flat 
unless re-moistened. 

This is where the professional mounter often fails. More: the pro- 
fessional cannot see the reason for it because he is not capable of seeing 
the slight change which takes place after a print is left, as he calls it, 
“dry.” Nearly all these men, moreover, use hard “drying boards ”’ 
instead of soft blotting-paper, and consequently crush the lines of the 
etching flat, so that the finger in passing across the face of the print can 
no longer feel the ridges. 

As these are not solid ink, but largely caused by embossing from the 
back of the paper, very little is needed to press the raised parts back into 


FLATTENING AND MOUNTING 149 


position, and even blotting-paper under heavy pressure must do this to 
some extent. 

But plate-papers are far too hard for this purpose, and “ drying-boards ”’ 
(such as are expressly sold by dealers for the purpose) are damnation to 
the etched line. 

If the etcher will try drying his blotting-paper before the last pressing, 
he will find that the proofs will remain dead flat in however short a time 
the work is done. 

I was told recently that a whole night was not long enough for my 
informant—a professional mounter—to guarantee Japanese Mulberry- 
fibre proofs remaining flat ! This paper, being unsized, as already described, 
lies flatter of its own accord than any European paper except blotting- 
papers. More often than not it needs no flattening at all, because it is 
not firm enough in surface to retain the impress of the plate for very long. 

I know something of these papers, as I have printed (and flattened) well 
over five thousand proofs on them alone, and I say unhesitatingly that 
the soft-fibre Hosho is the easiest paper to print on and to flatten that I 
have ever used: only, it is so easily rubbed in the cabinet ; and heaven 
help the proof which goes—unprotected even by tissue-paper—to the 
auction room, there to be handled, without regard for the damage in- 
flicted, by anyone who cares to walk in before the sale and turn over the 
rough brown-paper folios! Such paper can be guaranteed to remain flat 
after half an hour. 

It is very important that the blotting-paper used for this purpose shall 
be free of watermark, as if there is one it will be liable to impress itself 
upon the surface of the etching while the latter is still soft from damping. 
Most makers will supply unmarked paper, especially if a large quantity 
is ordered, and there is no economy in stinting oneself in the use of good 
blotting-paper in any of the processes which together go to the making 
of a print. 

Numbering.— When proofs have been flattened the etcher’s own work is 
usually finished except for signing and numbering. With regard to 
numbering, I should like to suggest that the Continental method of record- 
ing the edition number as well as that of the individual print is by far the 
most satisfactory, and rarely carried out in this country. 

Without an edition figure the number of the proof tells one nothing 
and is useless except for the fostering of a spirit of rivalry amongst the 
credulous who fondly imagine that because they own impressions marked 
No. 1 they therefore own the first proofs pulled! How can the artist 
number the work as he goes along, and why should he if he could ? 

The actual practice is something like this: the etcher prints so many 
more than he needs for his edition—at least, I do—and throws out the 
worst weeks afterwards when all are flattened. 

Very often some of the remainder are still below standard, and more 
have to be printed and selected from. This may easily happen after the 
numbering has been done; and in this case, supposing that No. 5 was 


150 FLATTENING AND MOUNTING 


found not good enough, after all: out it would come and a substitute 
pulled and numbered 5 when it might well be the 105th impression ! They 
all get mixed up in flattening, anyhow, and are numbered just as they 
happen. 

What the collector wants to know in looking at the number is that from 
a certain plate, in a certain state, so many were printed and that the one 
in his hand is one of these—no more. Itis of no importance to him whether 
his proof were pulled first or last, so long as the artist has passed all as 
good. The early proofs are by no manner of means always the best. On 
the contrary, I once printed 150 impressions from a plate, and the edition 
issued to the public was the last 50—numbered, naturally, 1-50. If the 
rest were destroyed, what else could it have been numbered ? It is also 
just as well to point out that no numbering is any guarantee that only 
the stated issue was printed. 

Even where both artist and dealer have genuinely believed no more 
proofs to exist I have known definite cases where, when a plate has been 
printed by someone other than the artist, other proofs have been pulled 
by the printer for his own benefit ; or again where someone has been told 
to destroy certain proofs and has not done so. 1 

Neither does the destroyed plate aid the guarantee in any way except 
by proving that no more will be printed. Where the artist prints himself 
and is honest, there is no further guarantee possible or necessary. There- 
fore what is of most interest is the edition, not the individual, number 
recorded on each proof as information, not as a guarantee of probity;to 
those fools who will not buy anything unless it is rare. 

A Mounting.—There are two ways of cutting 
: a board (Figs. 52 and 53). If it be normally 
thin for the cabinet, a fairly wide space should 
be allowed between the mount A and the plate- ° 
mark of the print C. This space (Fig. 52 B) 
acts as a buffer between mount and proof, and 
for normal sized work should be about } inch 
wide at top and sides, and 3 inch at the foot. 

If, on the other hand, a very thick mount 
(Fig. 53 A) is used, it should be bevelled at an 
angle of at least 45° (B), allowing the bottom of the bevel to practically 
touch the plate-mark (C). In this case the wide bevel acts as the buffer ; 
as the space left does with a thin mount. The 
difficulty of mounting in this style is in not being 
able to show the signature in modern prints, unless 
the mount is cut away specially, as is done by 
some etchers. 

Surely the principle is logical enough, and yet 
so often (even in our greatest Museum) are the 
two methods mixed and misapplied. Nothing 
looks worse than a thick mount cut away back 








FLATTENING AND MOUNTING 151 


from the plate-mark, except a thin mount cut close up to the edge of 
the print ! 

Another important point is that the mount should be at least as cold in 
colour as the tint of the proof. If a little colder it will be ideal; but on 
no account should it be warmer or darker than the prevailing colour and 
tone of the print. 

It is quite common—not in good-class firms—to see an etching which 
is printed upon a white paper mounted upon a cream board. The effect 
is abominable. The mount takes the life out of the etching, as the eye is 
always unconsciously attracted by colour and cannot disregard the mount 
as it should be able to do. 

The etching should be positive ; the surrounding blank space negative. 
Again: to place dark mounts upon luminous warm-toned prints, as some 
people persist in doing, makes the warm paper appear cold and “ chalky ”’ 
and cheapens the whole effect. 

These people imagine that a dark mount will make the luminosity of 
a sky, for instance, tell more—“show up” is the expression—but it 
doesn’t ; it has precisely the opposite result. 

Most wise collectors nowadays keep their prints in stock-sized mounts 
of two or three dimensions. A very usual and useful size is 22 x16 inches, 
and many good firms keep to this size when possible. This prevents the 
solander cases or cabinet from containing any mounts that are loose, and 
allows a few frames to be utilized for the whole collection, which can thus 
be changed at will on the walls whenever the owner requires a new stimulus. 
I know one collector who re-hangs his drawing-room in this way every 
month or two and so really enjoys his whole collection. If the back- 


























Fic. 54. 


board (in one piece) is fastened only by catches—either wood or brass— 
which fit into corresponding slots of the frame sides, this will greatly 
facilitate the hanging of a new exhibition at a moment’s notice. It is 
not even necessary to unhang the frame if a picture-rail is used. 

Another matter of importance to consider is the proportion of the 
mount’s margin to be cut for a given etching. 

Any print placed exactly in the centre between top and bottom will 
look as if the top margin were deeper than the bottom (see Fig. 54 A, 


152 FLATTENING AND MOUNTING 


and Fig. 55 E). This illusion has to be counteracted by pushing the print 
up a little even if the effect of equality is desired. But it is better to 
make it appear to have more at the base, which means a still more liberal 
allowance (B and C in Fig. 54, and G in Fig. 55). 

With a vertical subject on a 2216 inch mount 14 inches will not be 
too great a difference between top and bottom ; while horizontally ? inch 
may be allowed on an average. This naturally depends largely upon the 
proportions of the actual print and where the dark masses, within it, lie. 
It is best to keep the top and sides as equal as the whole proportions of 
proof to mount permit, especially in the case of an upright. What differ- 
ence there may be should always be in favour of the top in vertical and 
the sides in horizontal—as they are termed “landscape ’’—subjects. 
Nothing looks worse than a tall print framed with less margin above than 


, 


Ces 


mR 





Fie. 55.—Good and bad placing of proofs on mounts. 


on each side (Fig. 54 D), or a long, narrow one with less at the sides than 
at the top (Fig. 55 H). 

The only exception to this last is when, for the sake of uniformity on 
the wall or in the cabinet, the collector prefers to mount all prints on 
vertical boards (Fig. 551). In that case, all the works will not look 
equally well; but neither will they, even if mounted in both ways, so 
long as a uniform size of mount is used. That is to say, in whichever way 
it is done the individual proof must be sacrificed for the sake of uniformity, 
and, generally speaking, it is better to do this than to cut all the mounts 
to different sizes. 

In Fig. 54, A, B and C show the same sized prints and mounts in different 
relations to each other. 

A is the print placed with equal margins top and bottom. Whichever 
way it is turned, the margin looks deeper at the top. 

Bis an example of high mounting when the weight of tone (or interest) 
is entirely at the base of the design. 


FLATTENING AND MOUNTING 153 


C is good proportion when the weight is at the top. It is set lower 
than B. 

D is the print placed upon a board too short for it. The sides are wider 
than the top and even than the bottom. Even if the sides were cut down, 
though it would be better, too small a margin in relation to the print 
would still cramp the latter badly. 

In Fig. 55 I there is an example of a horizontal print mounted upon 
a vertical board as described above. It is obviously the extreme limit 
of the mount’s capacity, and this particular proof would look better 
mounted as at G. 

E is again equally spaced top and bottom, but this is counter- 
balanced a little—not sufficiently—by being weighted at the top of 
the design. 

F is mounted very high (like B, Fig. 54), in order to keep the weight 
at the base of the plate well up. 

G is good normal proportion : a little more at the foot than the top. 

H has less side margin than top, which looks very bad. 

Stretching.—In all these diagrams the plate is as nearly the same size 
as possible. 

A large etching being usually printed upon tough paper—even if it 
is upon soft—is very liable to buckle, and for this reason I strongly 
advocate stretching all such proofs : small ones also when they require it. 
A creased and wavy surface is most unfair to the artist who made the 
print. Buckling immediately destroys the illusion of any atmospheric 
reality the work may possess. No one knows this—no one can know it— 
better than the maker. He sees a proof in the first place, fresh from the 
press—absolutely flat—in its perfection. He strips it from its backing, 
and as it dries the illusion is dissipated. He still knows that the proof is 
a good one because he saw it before it became wrinkled, but even so he 
has the greatest difficulty in believing his memory trustworthy ! 

This same proof is flattened a week or two later, and once more it 
appears as a beautiful impression. The proof is sent out ; left in a damp 
atmosphere—say a London fog; is then framed and hung near a fire or 
over hot pipes, and once more creases spring up as if by magic: once 
again it looks its worst. If the paper were stretched this could not occur : 
the print would remain looking its best. 

I once saw one of the most sought-after modern etchings—worth, at 
the moment, the price of a good motor-car—the surface of which, as it 
hung in a collector’s study, was a mass of radiating lines. It was hardly 
possible to recognize the plate. So heavy were these creases that they 
had become flattened, on the top of each, against the glass, and, as I 
warned the owner, would cause grey marks on the ink (the plate is a mass 
of black ink) which would be permanent and completely ruin the work. 
And yet this was a typical case where the collector preferred to have the 
work in this state rather than have it stretched ! 

It is just “‘fashion.’’ There is not the slightest danger in stretching 


154 FLATTENING AND MOUNTING 


if it be done properly—it should be done by an expert—and the paper 
not pulled so tightly that when dry it will be as taut as a drum. This, 
of course, may mean giving way at the plate-mark or bursting. 

The advantage lies in the fact that, though a stretched proof will slacken 
in a very moist atmosphere, it will recover its flatness when dried again 
instead of being permanently buckled. 

The edges are merely very slightly pasted to the mounting-board (which 
must be a firm one) and a sharp mounting-knife slipped underneath will 
easily part the proof from the mount if desired to unstretch it at any time. 

I have heard many people who ought to know better say that they can 
make allowance for the look of a wavy surface, but they can’t. No one 
can : even the man who knows them best—their maker—and if he cannot 
it is surely presumptuous for others to imagine they can ? 

I admit that the practised and cultured critic may at times—indeed, 
not seldom—be the better judge of a work of art than the artist. Whistler’s 
dictum on this matter was as wrong as many of his dogmatic utterances. 
A man may feel things to be right or wrong without having the power 
of expressing them—otherwise the artist would be a being apart from 
humanity instead of very much part of it indeed—and the artist is generally 
thinking along one groove only, to the momentary exclusion of all else. 

On the other hand, in technical matters of this kind the knowledge of 
the critic is ntl in comparison with that of the creator of the work, and 
in such a case, when the artist says he is unable to judge, the critic is 
mistaken when he affirms that heis quite able todoso. In Bernard Shaw’s 
words, “‘ He thinks he can, but he can’t.”’ 

Therefore let me once more put forward a plea for keeping prints abso- 
lutely flat if their full meaning is to be appreciated—whether it be managed 
by stretching or by other means I care not—and I feel sure that once the 
necessity for this were fully realized, the foolish superstition that an 
etching should never be stretched would die a natural death. 

Laying Down.—To lay a print down solidly by pasting the whole back 
is a very different thing, and not to be tolerated under any circumstances. 

Air.—Prints kept in solander cases, etc., should be examined periodically 
and azred, if only for a short time. Airing is the greatest safeguard in 
warding off the incubation of mildew. If any decay is noticed, the patient 
should be at once segregated to prevent the spread of the germs to others. 

Frames.—The collector should be guided by the tone (and colour) of 
his wall. My own belief is that a frame should be half-way (in tone) 
between the mount and the wall, supposing that there is any great differ- 
ence between them. 

A black frame on a grey wall is, however, very beautiful, provided that 
the frames are few and far between. In this case the wall is the half tone, 
and though the black frame lies perfectly upon the wall, the weak point 
is the too sudden contrast between frame and mount. This is apt to 
attract the eye at the expense of the print unless the latter is exceptionally 
strong. 


FLATTENING AND MOUNTING 155 


Black, grey, gold and white mouldings are all beautiful if well hung, 
but they should have one point in common: their width. A frame for 
a 22X16 inch mount, for instance, should not exceed 4 inch. For larger 
works—etchings or mezzotints—? inch should be fully wide enough. 
Certainly no more than 1 inch for the largest and strongest plates, such 
as those of Bauer or Brangwyn. 

There is in these exceptionally large frames the weight of the glass 
supported by the mortices to be taken into consideration. 

A frame of which I am personally very fond is 4-inch oak, gilt directly 
upon the grain of the wood which shows through and keeps the surface 
matt. It has the advantage of suiting almost any coloured wall. But 
these things are very personal matters, and I have no wish to seem 
dogmatic on the subject. 

Nevertheless I am convinced that a large proportion of the collecting 
public and of the artists never really consider the framing of their works 
at all seriously—often, indeed, leaving the choice of proportion and design 
to their frame-maker, who works on rule of thumb tradition. 

As to the hanging of exhibitions of prints, so many of which are held 
everywhere, I should like to draw the attention of those concerned with 
the lighting and arranging of galleries, to the excellent chapter on the 
subject at the end of Mr. Pennell’s ‘‘ Etchers and Etching,” quoted from 
several times in the course of this book. I have been informed on the 
best authority that this chapter was written many years before the book 
was published, and in it the author gives us the full benefit of a long and 
wide experience of the hanging of black-and-white. 

Those who remember the splendid results of Mr. Pennell’s hanging in 
the old days of the New Gallery “ International” Exhibitions will agree 
that the artist knew his job. One of the most important features of such 
hanging was the use of the Velarium introduced by Whistler, and now 
unfortunately rarely seen. 

Another matter of great importance was the hanging from a line at the 
top instead of from the bottom, as oils are hung, and the breaking of the 
line of prints into groups. In 1920 I hung the Whistler Exhibition held 
by the Scottish Print Club in this manner, and it was generally admitted 
that the prints looked unusually well. Yet it is hardly ever practised 
nowadays, and as an example of how monotonous exhibitions of etchings 
can be made to appear, one can think of those held by the Royal Society 
of Painter-Etchers in London, and yet several of the older members knew 
Whistler and many of them must remember Mr. Pennell’s hanging of the 
New Gallery. 


CHAPTER XVII 
MILDEW AND RESTORING PRINTS 


It is but quite recently that any scientific research has been made into 
the question of mildew and its prevention and destruction with due safety 
to the print. 

Dr. Alexander Scott, F.R.S., is still working at these and kindred sub- 
jects at the British Museum Laboratory, and his reports have been issued 
as pamphlets at intervals under the title of “ The Cleaning and Restoration 
of Museum Exhibits,” published by His Majesty’s Stationery Office: the 
first being in 1921, Bulletin 5, price 2s., and the second in February, 1923, 
at the same price. 

I should advise any collector who has a print of importance that shows 
signs of “‘ foxing ” or mildew spots to obtain and study these booklets, or 
to take his print to the Museum itself and ask for advice, always very 
courteously given. But whatever he decides to do, he will be well advised 
not to take his print to the usual cleaner and restorer, who is supposed to 
be at the beck and call of any print-seller. 

I have seen enough ruin caused by unscientific professionals to know 
that even the best and most well-meaning firms cannot always rely upon 
the services of an expert who really knows his job. This can hardly be 
wondered at when an expert chemist of Dr. Scott’s repute has put it on 
record that research along these lines is only in its infancy. 

Mildew spores are presumably always present in paper, either from the 
time of manufacture or having been picked up from some infected object 
(not necessarily a print) which may have been in the same room at any 
time subsequently. 

Conditions to Avoid.—But these spores will not germinate unless the 
conditions are favourable. One of these is moisture : particularly a warm, 
damp atmosphere such as one finds to perfection in southern sea-ports 
such as Calcutta and Singapore. Anyone taking prints to the Kast should 
be specially careful to give them air and light. A dark—especially an 
underground—warehouse, where the atmosphere is never disturbed, is an 
unusually likely mildew-breeding domicile. 

In such a place as Calcutta I have known mildew spring up on one’s 
boots in a single night during the rains; but fortunately in Europe we 
have not those conditions to fight. 

There is, naturally, less danger in treating etchings (the ink of which 
is composed of carbon in some form held in place by a linseed-oil 
varnish) than in cleaning coloured drawings or pictures ; nevertheless 
it is not at all difficult to ruin an etching, and in the great majority 
of cases the operator has no appreciation of the surface qualities of a 

156 


MILDEW AND RESTORING PRINTS 157 


fine impression, and is therefore incapable of seeing when he has 
destroyed them. 

I was shown a print, not long ago, where the incompetent to whom it 
was entrusted had actually ironed the back in order to flatten it out after 
“restoring,” the result of the whole process being a surface like a newly 
polished piano-lid, combined with a friability of texture only equalled by 
an oat-cake ! Needless to say, that print no longer exists. 

Chloride of lime is probably the most common bleaching agent used by 
restorers, and the great danger is that the chlorine will not be entirely 
washed out of the paper after use. It requires hours of soaking in con- 
stantly changed water to ensure that none remains. 

Another chemical commonly employed for removing “foxing”’ is 
chloride of mercury—corrosive sublimate—a very dangerous poison and 
(Dr. Scott says) quite inadmissable for use upon works containing delicate 
colours (Bulletin 5, p. 5). I once had a foxed print sprayed! with a 
solution of this salt, but though the mildew was probably killed, the spots 
“came up” after a time and are there still. 

Dr. Scott’s Treatments.—The treatment for bleaching mildew stains 
advised in the above pamphlet is as follows :— 


Two baths of bleaching powder and hydrochloric acid respectively are 
used alternately. The solution should always be very weak. 
(1) 1 fluid oz. of concentrated hydrochloric acid in 1 quart of water. 
(2) From } to 4 oz. of good bleaching powder in the same quantity 
(1 quart) of water (Bulletin 5, p. 4). 


The mixture of bleaching powder and water need not be filtered. The 
print is first immersed in the acid bath for from ten to twenty minutes. 
Then, without being washed, placed in the second bath for an equal length 
of time. After this it is once more transferred to the acid bath. If this 
is not sufficient, the process can be repeated until no further improvement 
is noticeable. The print must then be washed thoroughly for some hours 
in water. To guard against any free chlorine remaining in the paper a 
small quantity of sodium sulphite may be added before the last washing. 

In the second pamphlet (1923), p. 2, Dr. Scott mentions sodium hydro- 
sulphite, or ‘‘ Hydros,’”’ as an agent for removing stains of an organic 
nature (in his case probably dyes contained in red ink), which resisted for 
many hours the treatment just described. “‘ The stains were at once 
removed by applying a solution of sodium hydrosulphite, or by rubbing 
a little of the powder on the stain, then washing thoroughly and giving a 
single treatment of the bleaching agents followed by a thorough final 
washing.” I have tried this with success. 

“Instead of bleaching powder,” Dr. Scott says in the first pamphlet, 
“ the so-called solution of chlorinated soda may be used. This is sometimes 
too alkaline, and, if so, may render the paper dangerously soft and tender 
from the solution of the size in the paper.” 

1 Spraying is not sufficient as small particles may easily escape saturation, 


158 MILDEW AND RESTORING PRINTS 


Danger of Bleaching.—In my experience this is the usual result of the 
chloride of lime treatment as commonly employed. 

The mildew feeds chiefly on the size in the paper—generally gelatine or 
animal sizes, but starch and vegetable sizes are also liable to attack— 
and by the time the discoloration produced by the dead fungus has been 
removed the size has practically disappeared too, leaving the paper, to 
all intents and purposes, as soft and absorbent as blotting-paper. 

A really good, strong-fibred paper will stand this; and I can see no 
reason why it should not be re-sized, but a poor fibre relying upon the size 
for its strength would naturally go to pieces at once. It follows, also, that 
papers so treated, being now easily affected (like blotting-paper) by the 
amount of moisture in the atmosphere, may become a danger to other 
papers or mounts with which they remain long in contact’; and though 
the absence of size in itself may make such papers less liable to the growth 
of mildew, the moisture they will contain will aid its germination. 

It is not uncommon for a collector to notice mildew (recently started) 
upon taking a print from close confinement, either from the cabinet or a 
sealed-up frame,” and to be reassured upon finding that the marks have 
disappeared when the print has been exposed to dry air for a short time. 
Sunlight and even the dryness of an ordinary living-room will often check 
the continuance of growth, but the mildew zs not dead. It is still in the 
paper, and will renew its activities at once if favourable conditions are 
restored. 

Formalin.—To kill the spores, therefore, chemical treatment 1s essential. 
Even paper upon which there are as yet no signs of active mildew is better 
treated if there is reason to suspect contamination. 

For this purpose, upon the advice of another distinguished chemist, I 
have used for some years a solution of formalin in spirits of wine or good 
methylated spirit : 5 per cent of formalin would probably be amply strong ; 
10 per cent is certain to be. 

Dr. Scott (lst pamphlet, p. 5) says: ‘‘ Formaldehyde (formalin) would 
no doubt act, but, from its constitution and chemical activity, can hardly 
come under the category of undoubtedly ‘ safe ’ reagents for this purpose 
until it has been very carefully tested. From the purely chemical point 
of view it may easily pass to formic acid, the presence of which may prove 
dangerous to many colours.” But this need not worry the black-and- 
white collector. “‘ Thymol,” he adds, “and similar substances, aided by 
a gentle rise in temperature, seem to promise good results.’ 

There is no need to place the print in the formalin bath. A sponge or 
large brush applied to the back is all that is necessary. Formalin is, I 


1 Dr. Scott has queried this without actually contradicting it—on the ground 
that having absorbed the moisture from the atmosphere, the paper would retain it 
and not pass it on to another with which it was in contact. 

2 It is far wiser to leave frames unpapered at the backs, in order to permit air to 
penetrate. 

8 Dr. Scott tells me that his opinion of thymol has been since confirmed. 


MILDEW AND RESTORING PRINTS 159 


believe, inclined to harden the size in the paper, acting as a “ tanning ”’ 
agent, but this should be rather to the advantage of a print than otherwise. 

Hydrogen Peroxide Method.—For the removal of “ foxing,” undoubtedly 
the safest method, but one entailing rather more trouble and care, is that 
which Dr. Scott has invented and advises in his first booklet, p. 5. 

He casts a block of stucco (plaster of Paris) in an ordinary mould, larger 
than the size of the paper to be treated, and distributes over its surface 
(when dry) a small quantity of a concentrated solution of hydrogen 
peroxide, as uniformly as possible. By so doing an active surface is 
obtained, and the hydrogen peroxide is given off in the form of vapour 
and free from impurities. He then places the print face downwards } inch 
above the surface and allows it to remain until the marks have disappeared. 
It will apparently require some hours to remove mildew stains in this way. 

Pyridine.—To remove stains caused by oils and varnishes which have 
darkened with age, Dr. Scott advises the use of pyridine. It is applied 
by means of a soft glass-fibre brush, and the liquid removed with pure 
white blotting-paper. Several applications may be necessary. The 
pyridine, he says, evaporates very rapidly and leaves the paper undamaged 
in toughness. 

Referring in the second pamphlet to the hydrogen peroxide method, he 
adds: “Some papers have become brittle and fragile under prolonged 
treatment, owing apparently to the size used in manufacture of the paper 
having been oxidized and destroyed. Most papers, but by no means all, 
seem to withstand the action of the hydrogen peroxide very well indeed.” 

He then goes on to say that in some cases writing inks (where the basis 
was an iron salt) have been bleached a faint yellow by this treatment. 
I presume, therefore, that where an ink signature or other work—such as 
retouches or dedication—is affixed to an etching care will have to be 
exercised and the written part, or added touches, protected if possible. 
It is possible, as Dr. Scott informs us, to restore the colour of ink so 
bleached by the use of certain salts, but in any case it would be unwise 
for the inexpert to try these delicate reactions which only the highly 
trained chemist would undertake. 

In cases where it was inadvisable to submit the whole print to the 
moisture of the peroxide vapour (by reason of the unequal expansion of 
certain papers) a solution of this in ether was applied by means of a camel- 
hair brush to the parts requiring it. 

Grease Spots.—For the removal of grease from prints, petrol may be 
used and the stain (if there is any) afterwards got rid of by the bleaching 
method. Fresh grease may be largely removed by placing blotting-paper 
on the spot and heating by passing a not too hot iron or other metal 
object over the blotting-paper very gently. 

Printing-Folds.—For removing printing creases there is only one safe 
method of working. The print should be damped and stretched by an 
expert as tightly as may be without running the risk of bursting the paper. 
This will pull out the fold automatically, leaving the fine uninked line 


160 MILDEW AND RESTORING PRINTS 


telling as a white against the tone of the surface. The only remedy for 
this is to fill in very delicately with a fine brush. If the crease is across 
a passage of pale surface tone—and this is Just where they happen most 
frequently, because there the paper is not gripped so well as in the heavily 
inked parts—it can best be filled in with water-colour mixed to the 
required tint and made as stiff as possible by admixture of a little gum 
of some kind. This will prevent the colour spreading beyond the line. 
If the crease crosses a heavily bitten passage it can be more easily filled 
by means of a needle dipped in the same printing-ink as was used for the 
etching in the first place. 

In the case of Japanese paper, water-colour will be certain to spread 
unless the paper has been sized. 

No flattening can ever hope to eradicate a printing-fold successfully, but 
it is the method almost invariably attempted. If the fold 7s worked out 
by this means it will only be at the expense of the surrounding surface, 
and moreover the tension of that part will be left unequal and the proof 
likely to buckle in consequence. By straining the fibre is pulled equally 
from the edges, and when de-stretched remains of more equal tension 
throughout. The great pressure required to flatten a crease will also destroy 
every vestige of an embossed line, whereas in stretching nothing of the 
kind happens. 


CHAPTER XVIII 
THE MEDIUM IN RELATION TO THE ARTIST’S IDEA 


THE engraver in any medium is very strictly limited by the nature of 
that medium. In painting with oil or water-colours the artist is practi- 
cally unlimited in his choice of subject. He can suggest the most delicate 
or the strongest differences of both tone and colour without ever straining 
the resources of his craft. 

Leaving aside colour altogether, as we cannot here deal with relief 
methods which are alone suitable for colour-printing, the processes ex- 
amined one by one in the previous chapters show that each is peculiarly 
adapted for yielding a certain quality of line or tone, which, in its turn, 
is most capable of being the medium of interpretation for certain modes 
of thought and their expression in black and white. 

Etching can best express the thought of the artist when he is thinking 
in terms of definite form ; in other words: line. 

Aquatint yields him of its best when he thinks in vaguer terms of tonal 
masses, which are yet definitely separated, each from each. 

When he dreams of infinitely subtle and illusive gradations mezzotint 
is his medium ; and so it goes on, down to the less obviously distinctive 
qualities of soft-ground and drypoint. 

It would be foolish (though not absolutely impossible) to endeavour to 
interpret a subtle nocturne with the needle, when the resources of mezzo- 
tint are available. Still more foolish, because impossible, to attempt to 
record in a few, swift, definite strokes the motion of an animal, in mezzo- 
tint ; though it might be done with the brush in aquatint. 

The rough breadth of soft-ground lends itself to the rapid jotting down 
of a semi-tonal effect where true etching would fail; while for broad, 
simple, flat washes of tone obviously aquatint is indicated. 

These mediums are often combined, it is true ; and sometimes, though 
comparatively rarely, with success. Turner did it in the splendid Lzber 
Studiorum, using combinations of at least four mediums (etching and soft- 
ground etching for his structure: aquatint and mezzotint for his tone), 
though probably rarely more than two of these upon any one plate. 

Goya did it, also, in his amazing series of semi-etched, semi-aquatinted 
plates. That great experimenter Geddes often combined his mediums, 
and so subtly that it is extremely baffling to distinguish them (see Chap. 
XXIII). But for the student it is far better to master one medium at a 
time: to learn the strength of each and its limitations. 

If the student, for instance, could gain such technical mastery as that 
achieved by the late W. Hole in his astonishing translations of Velasquez, 
Millet and others, he would be able to express himself in etching proper 

L 161 


162 MEDIUM IN RELATION TO THE ARTIST’S IDEA 


with the greatest ease, supposing that he had anything in him worth 
expressing. 

A student who is learning the resources of a medium is much more likely 
to be thinking firstly of his method of working, and only secondly of what 
he wishes to express by its means. This is as it should be ; but the result 
is that he will sally forth to find a subject only after he has made up his 
mind to produce an etching. By so doing he will, consciously or other- 
wise, reject every subject he meets with which is unsuitable for expression 
on line. 

The converse of this is when the rarer, and usually older, artist is so 
enthralled by a subject that he casts about for a suitable medium in which 
to express it. 

There are many artists, even of the first rank, who are temperamentally 
more interested in mediums than in expressing their manner of seeing 
Life ; although they have their moments when Life grips them so hard 
that they forget about the importance of the means for its own sake: 
otherwise they would never be classed as highly as they are. 

As an example of a very great artist of whom this may be said I cite 
Whistler ; of the opposite type, Rembrandt, and I hope no one will mis- 
interpret my meaning in contrasting these types, as no artist can have a 
more genuine appreciation of the work of the modern master than I. 

If the student will take an illustrated catalogue of Whistler’s etched 
work he will find that in hardly an instance did the artist attempt a subject 
that necessitated anything beyond premier coup methods, or that pre- 
supposed deliberate thinking out beforehand of the composition in order 
to express an idea—I mean a universal idea—beyond what he actually 
saw at the moment. 

His composition was perfect within the limits of his art ; but this came 
from reducing what he actually saw to the essentials requisite to the making 
of an etching. 

His amazing power of rapid selection in drawing on the spot—a power 
more certain even than Rembrandt’s—allowed him to avoid subjects, or 
the parts of a subject, which were unsuitable for expression in the medium. 
In this Whistler was the supreme master ; and if art meant nothing more 
than the perfect handling of a medium, he would hold the place claimed 
for him by his extreme admirers. 

If we now turn to a Rembrandt catalogue we shall see that the attitude 
of the Dutchman was very different. Some of his plates are perfection 
technically, but in others the technique went by the board because the 
greatest of all etchers was less interested in preserving its purity than in 
expressing the idea he had in mind. 

That the medium, as such, interested him intensely, no one can doubt 
who has studied his work ; but that the expression of Life interested him 
still more is undeniable. 

We know that, with few exceptions, the whole of Whistler’s work was 
executed red-hot from nature, and this has certain obvious advantages. 


MEDIUM IN RELATION TO THE ARTIST’S IDEA 1638 


The seizing of an action or an accidental arrangement of light and shade 
is more likely to be spontaneously and vigorously set down in this way, 
and, for individual figures or simple landscape, this advantage probably 
outweighs those which pertain to the studio. But for an elaborately 
designed plate such as the “‘ Christ Healing the Sick,” or one of Bauer’s 
many-figured, carefully-balanced compositions, working in any way other 
than from deliberately planned drawings—or from one’s memory if that 
be sufficiently accurate—is unthinkable. 

The great majority of modern etchers who have done work worthy of 
mention most certainly prefer to work finally upon the plate after having 
made studies, more or less elaborate, in another medium. The notable 
exceptions were Whistler and Haden. 

That Meryon did preliminary work—we are told that he did work 
directly from nature,? working from a mirror—we have ample evidence 
in his pencil drawings. That the finest etching by far (in my opinion) 
produced by Zorn—the ‘‘ Renan ’’—was done also in this way we again 
have the evidence of the original drawing, line for line almost identical 
with the plate. Cameron once told me that there was no doubt that 
nearly all the best men worked from drawings. Bone, we know, often, 
if not invariably, follows the same method. McBey told me years ago 
that he found working from nature directly on the plate much more con- 
fusing than helpful; while Blampied said the same in almost identical 
words. Needless to say, such plates as Percy Smith’s “ Dance of Death ”’ 
could hardly have been done in any way “ on the spot,” and of the living 
foreigners, Benson and Forain, the same may be said with certainty. 

Of many other masters I have definite opinions on the same subject, 
but the student is as able to form his own as to read mine. 

I began my own work by making drypoints from nature and generally 
etched them in reverse—i.e. from the print of the first plate—in the 
studio. After that I did most of the etching from pencil drawings, though 
some were drawn on the spot. I gradually worked more and more from 
nature, following Whistler’s maxim, until the war. And yet, curiously 
enough, some of the best plates of those years were executed from draw- 
ings, though by no means all. Nearly all the first and second Indian sets 
were drawn on the plate from nature and bitten months afterwards in 
Scotland. 

After the long break of the war I began gradually to feel that this 
method was no longer possible to me; while in the last five years only 
portraits and a few small jottings have been done on the copper from 
nature, and, of these heads, all were drypoint. 

I feel more and more convinced that for work other than the “ note ” 
or “sketch,” planning out in another medium before touching the plate 
is by far the sounder policy ; and what is sacrificed by not being in definite 


(4 


1 Since writing the above I have had Mr. Bauer’s letter confirming this (see note, 
p.. 326). 
2 See Hamerton’s “ Etching and Etchers.”’ 


164 MEDIUM IN RELATION TO THE ARTIST’S IDEA 


contact with nature at the moment is more than made up for by the 
opportunity for weighing the relative values of one composition against 
another, and in being unhurried in actual execution. 

Great art can only be produced by analysing ; considering balance and 
rhythm, volume and line; as well as by recapturing the heat of the 
emotion felt at a particular moment through the vehicle of one or other 
of the senses. 

And this intellectual part of the work can be done far better in the 
calm of the studio, if one can only hold fast the memory of the past 
emotion. 


PART III 


CHAPTER XIX 
A BRIEF SURVEY OF ETCHERS UP TO THE YEAR 1800 


For a large part of the information contained in the earlier part of this 
chapter I am indebted to two books in particular: Mr. 8. R. Koehler’s 
“ Etching ” (1885) and Mr. A. M. Hind’s “ A Short History of Engraving 
and Etching ” (1908) (revised edition 1923), and the student who desires 
fuller details and the many intermediate names of those who fill the 
occasionally considerable gaps between men of outstanding merit who 
alone can have place here, will find those works invaluable for reference 
purposes. 

The first names we have to mention are not those of etchers, but of a 
few obscure artists whose work was principally executed with the drypoint. 

The Master of the Hausbuch (c. 1480).—The first of these (Plate 24) is 
the anonymous master, the largest collection of whose work is in the 
Amsterdam Cabinet. He flourished towards the close of the fifteenth 
century and was presumably a German of the middle Rhine. Mr. Hind 
finds an occasional influence of the great engraver Schongauer in his plates, 
which are of great originality. Mr. Koehler mentions three Italians about 
whose work so little has been authenticated that it seems unnecessary for 
the student to be concerned with it. 

No one seems yet to have discovered precisely when the process of 
etching designs upon metal objects—purely for ornament’s sake—began 
first to be practised, but in all probability it was used by the armourers 
and jewellers long before the fifteenth century, when first we find any 
definite record of the art. 

Jehan le Begue, to whom I have already referred in Chapter VI, left 
definite recipes for making two mordants for the practice of etching iron 
—presumably for decorative purposes only, but we cannot be sure of that 
—so far back as 1431; but nothing is authenticated in etching as we 
understand the term until the opening of the sixteenth century. 

Daniel Hopfer (14931-15386) is cited by Mr. Hind as having probably 
produced a portrait as early as 1503 or 1504, and Mr. Koehler’s reasoning 
on the evidence seems very sound when he says: “ There is other proof, 
however, to convince us that Daniel Hopfer was the earliest etcher so far 
known to have worked in Germany. In the year 1500 his name is found 
entered in the register of one of the guilds of Augsburg, and his profession 
is given in the same entry as that of ‘ Kupferstecher,’ that is to say, an 
engraver on copper. . . . Hence we are perfectly justified in accepting 


1 This date would appear more than doubtful. 
165 


Drypoint. 








Plate 24 


ORIENTAL HORSEMAN. ‘THE MASTER OF THE HAUSBUCH. 
THIS IS ONE OF THE EARLIEST DRYPOINTS KNOWN & THE ARTIST’S NAME HAS BEEN LOST. 


From a proof in the British Museum. 


166 


64 x4h Cut. 



































Etching. 11§ x8} 
Plate 25 


KONRAD VON DER ROSEN. DANIEL HOPFER. 


HOPFER, WHO ETCHED ON IRON, IS PROBABLY THE EARLIEST WORKER IN THE MEDIUM WHOSE PRINTS HAVE SURVIVED 
HE WAS ALREADY A KNOWN CRAFTSMAN IN 1500. 


From a proof in the British Museum, 


167 


168 BRIEF SURVEY OF ETCHERS UP TO YEAR 1800 


it as a proven fact that Daniel Hopfer, named as an engraver in 1500, 
and all of whose plates were executed by biting with a mordant, was 
engaged in producing printable plates by etching as far back as the date 
named.” He points out that these plates (Plate 25) were etched on iron, 
not on copper; but that does not in any way upset his argument. 

Urs Graf (c. 1485-1529).—1518 is the year of the first known print from 
a dated bitten plate. Urs Graf—probably a Swiss—was the author of it : 
the subject a woman bathing her feet (Plate 26), and only a single impres- 
sion has been discovered. 

Master of 1515.—At the same time, in Italy, was working another un- 
identified master, thought by reason of the character of his Gothic draughts- 
manship to have been of northern origin also (Plate 27). He has been 
long recognized as one of the earliest artists to use the drypoint, but I am 
quite satisfied that his preliminary, structural contours were bitten and 
not graved. My reasons are: (1) distinct traces of foul-biting in some 
plates ; (2) the equality and continuity of the line; (3) that it would 
seem much more logical for an artist to complete his shading with the 
drypoint, after having employed a single strong etching, than to change 
deliberately from the pushed burin to the down-stroke of the drypoint. 
If the latter were the method one might expect intermediate passages 
where both tools had been used (which is not the case) ; while if the con- 
tour were first bitten, there would be no going back after the wax was 
finally removed, all the subsequent shading being done in a different 
medium. We have no data, so far, to indicate whether 1515 which appears 
upon one of the plates was early or late in the artist’s life, but there is 
little doubt that he was etching in Italy almost, if not quite, as early as 
any of the known Germans in the north. As his work was certainly 
executed upon copper he would also be the first known etcher of that 
metal. That etching or even engraving was derived from the Florentine 
goldsmiths’ Niello? is now doubted, and our historians are inclined to 
place the birth of line-engraving as well as the bitten process in Germany. 

Durer (1471-1528).—The first great master who produced a few bitten 
and drypoint plates amongst his numerous engravings was Albrecht Diirer. 
His earliest attributed drypoint (1510) is disputed as a later forgery. Of 
the three authentic drypoints, two are dated 1512. His six bitten (iron) 
plates were executed between 1515-1518 (see Chapter XX). 

Lucas v. Leyden (1494-1533).—Next comes the great Dutchman, Lucas, 
who was etching—probably inspired by Diirer—after 1520. Mr. Hind 
cites him as the first man of note to use copper, but, as I have just shown, 
the Master of 1515 has, almost certainly, a prior claim. I pass over these 
two men for the present because I shall return to them later on. 


1 Some of these iron plates are to be seen in the British Museum, where the 
student can see the pointed lines drawn with the échoppe. 

2 Niello (Lat., Nigellum) is the art of filling the engraved lines with a black (or 
coloured) composition in order to throw up the design strongly, as is done in so many 
forms of Eastern metal work, e.g. Kashmiri, Bidri, Muradabad. 





Plate 26 


WOMAN BATHING HER FEET. Urs GRAF, 


THIS ETCHING UPON IRON IS THE FIRST KNOWN TO CARRY A DATE, THOUGH THOSE OF 
Hoprer & THE MASTER OF 1515 ARE ALMOST CERTAINLY EARLIER. 


169 


“INIOdGAUG AUV ONICVHS ~ ANNOUNHOVA AAT, 


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‘NVWYAN V ATdvd0Oud ! ATVII NI NMONH ANTI NALLIA FHL aSN OL LSILYV LSArIuva HY, 


“CTST 40 UAISVA FHL “VULVdOWIO 
46 9481 


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170 


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* A Pe 
+ 


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‘ONILIA LVI4 ‘HIONIS V GH8N ‘YHHOLH AdVOSAGNVI Budd ISUld AHL 


WaAMUOGLTY “SHHOUVT HLIM Ad VOSANVT 
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171 


172 BRIEF SURVEY OF ETCHERS UP TO YEAR 1800 


Altdorfer (c. 1480-1588).—Albrecht Altdorfer (Plate 28) was a most 
interesting etcher of landscape and the founder of the “ Regensburg 
school.” His drawing of the drooping larch branches is very personal, 
though his plates have none of the incisive strength and definition of 
Diirer’s, whose landscape drawing (e.g. ‘“‘ The Cannon ’’) is magnificcnt. 

Hirschyogel (1503-1553).—Another native of Nuremberg who made 
some very charming landscape plates (Plate 29) after the manner of 
Altdorfer was Aug. Hirschvogel. The “articulation ”’ of the planes and 
the relationship of objects atmospherically are much more definitely felt, 
while the line is very economically used. Here we have the beginnings 
of true landscape etching. His great importance lies in the fact that he 
was perhaps the first to gain atmospheric perspective by varied strength 
of line: possibly by employing more than one needle rather than by 
stopping-out. 

Parmigiano (c. 1508-1540).—To return to Italy: Francesco Mazzuoli, 
Lucas’s contemporary, was etching after 1520 with an extraordinarily 
free and etcher-like line. It is so modern in feeling that one is reminded 
of the work of our Victorian woodcut school (Plate 30). 

Meldolla (c. 1522-1582). Andrea Schiavone was probably Parmigiano’s 
pupil, and his work shows the influence of the master. 

It must be remembered that we are here forced to disregard many 
greater men than the last named, merely because, though engravers, they 
did not employ acid or the drypoint. 

Seghers (1590-1645).—One Dutchman who deserves passing notice, 
principally because his rather wild landscapes were of interest to Rem- 
brandt, is Hercules Seghers. He experimented considerably with printing 
in colour. 

We must now pass over a considerable period till we come to the first 
men who began to use etching for the sake of its own inherent qualities, 
though this might perhaps be claimed for the last four men I have spoken 
of, to a certain extent. 

Callot (1592-1635).—The first of these—one who still had strong lean- 
ings towards the quality of the graver’s line—was Jacques Callot (Plates 
31, 32). His is a most important figure in the history of etching because 
his influence descended side by side with that of his greater contemporary, 
Rembrandt, until our own day, as I think, has not been fully recognized. 

In the seventeenth century his example (technically) was followed in 
France, Italy, Holland (where I am sure he influenced Rembrandt) and 
England. His great vogue, especially in the late seventeenth and eight- 
eenth centuries, was probably largely due to two things apart from the 
excellence of much of the work. Firstly, his huge output ; and, secondly, 
that he was known to, and held up as worthy of imitation by, the 
first known writer on technical etching, Abraham Bosse,! through the 

1 In Bosse’s foreword occurs the following, which shows that he at least knew of 


no previous work: ‘“‘ dont personne que je sache n’a traité par écrit public jusqu’a 
cette heure.”’ 





eo a 
rie Tg kak S 

; odes fee % ; 
a $0. Heth, Sere’ aes 


— bas : 


e 

















B.TK 183.82, 


Pitching et — . 24x 5B. 
Plate 29 
LANDSCAPES. HIRSCHVOGEL. 


THESE LANDSCAPES, PROBABLY ETCHED ON IRON, ARE VERY IMPORTANT AS SHOWING THE FIRST USE OF MORE THAN ONE 
STRENGTH OF LINE IN THE SAME DESIGN. THIS MAY HAVE BEEN DUE TO STOPPING-OUT OR MERELY TO THE EMPLOY- 
MENT OF DIFFERENT SIZED POINTS. 


From a proof in the British Museum. 


173 





Spree oo ee ee oor 
Plate 30 


THE ANNUNCIATION. PARMIGIANO. 


SHOWING THE FREEDOM & EMANCIPATION FROM THE BURIN INFLUENCE ALREADY 
ATTAINED IN EARLY SIXTEENTH CENTURY ITALY. 


From a proof in the British Museum. 


174 








3 


54 x3}. 


Etching, 


Plate 31 
A BEGGAR. CALLOT. 


NoTE THE POINTED ENDS OF MANY LINES 


SHOWING STILL THE BURIN INFLUENCE. 


A MAGNIFICENT EXAMPLE OF WORKING WITH THE ECHOPPE. 


From a proof in the British Muscum. 


175 


176 BRIEF SURVEY OF ETCHERS UP TO YEAR 1800 


translation of whose book by Faithorne and the anonymous author of 
the treatise quoted from in the early chapters of this book, his fame and 
methods spread through Britain. Upon the title-page of Faithorne’s “ The 
Art of Graveing and Etching ” (1662) he is described as “ that famous 
Callot.” 

It was obviously his influence—in part through Claude and Zeeman— 
which caused the first notable plates to be produced in Scotland (as I shall 
endeavour to show later), and his influence which descended through 
Zeeman to Meryon and the moderns. Callot was born at Nancy. He 
spent most of his earlier life in Italy—largely at Rome—but returned to 
his native town some fourteen years before his death. 

Mr. Hind! makes a curious and ambiguous statement which I must 
confess I am quite unable to accept under any interpretation. 

“In the history of etching his work is a notable landmark, as it is among 
the earliest in which the practice of a second (or further repeated) biting 
was used to any extent. The varied tone of line achieved by this method 
opens possibilities of treating atmosphere and distance which few even of 
the greatest etchers have fully realized.” 

Whether Mr. Hind means by “second biting” the reopening of the 
orzginal lines and their re-biting, a continued biting after some passages 
have been stopped-out, or the adding of further lines crossing the old by 
means of re-grounding with the old lines filled up, is uncertain; but, in 
any case, what follows seems to imply that few even of the greatest etchers 
have fully realized how to exploit those processes ! 

Rembrandt himself was noted for his skill in the use of those operations, 
and it would be difficult to find a single man of importance since that 
time who has not fully understood and utilized either one or all of the 
same methods. 

I feel sure that Rembrandt must have been influenced very early by 
Callot, but I have no evidence other than that of his prints—the beggars— 
themselves. And with the fame that Callot appears to have won it seems 
highly probable that some of his prints would have found their way to 
Amsterdam, where the art was appreciated.? 

The other influence, which I do not remember having seen suggested, 
but which—direct or indirect—seems to me quite patent, is that of Callot’s 
figures upon the art of Meryon. Compare, for instance, Meryon’s treat- 
ment of his figures in “‘ La Morgue ” with any of the small groups in a 
typical Callot, and I think the resemblance can hardly fail to strike the 
student. It may be that the influence was only indirect—through 
Zeeman—but it is worth while to draw attention to the probability of 
the French tradition having definitely descended from the first great etcher 
to the still greater etcher of two hundred years later. 

Claude Gellée (1600-1682).—The next great artist, who was only inci- 


1 “A Short History, etc.,”’ p. 159 (1st ed.). 
2 A very close copy of his “‘ Miséres de la Guerre ’’ was published in Amsterdam 
in Rembrandt’s lifetime. 


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dentally a great etcher, was also a Frenchman, and, like Callot, he absorbed 
the tradition in Rome. Claude outlived Callot by forty-seven years, 
though only some eight years his junior; but while the older man pro- 
duced at least one thousand plates at a modest estimate, Claude’s whole 
output does not reach half a hundred! His etched work occupied but a 
small part of his long life, but his plates are by no means bitten “ en- 
gravings ”’ like those of nearly all his predecessors. He employed a free, 
delicate, irregular line which unmistakably “‘ belongs’ to the medium, 
and that same feeling for luminosity which he imparted to his wonderful 
paintings also permeates the finest of his plates. I cannot agree with Sir 
Frederick Wedmore? in this instance when he ranks Le bouvier as the 
finest of these. It is a laboured plate containing some very poor draughts- 
manship. Far finer, in my opinion, and showing an amazing sense of the 
peculiar qualities of etching, are such plates as the magnificent ‘‘ Flock 
in stormy weather ”’ (Plate 38), La fuite en Egypte, L’apparition, La danse 
au bord de l’eau and Berger et Bergére. “‘ The dance by the water-side ”’ 
is as true to nature as any of the contemporary Dutch landscapes except 
those of Rembrandt; while Claude etched with greater force and con- 
trasts of biting than even Rembrandt in the latter’s outdoor work. This 
can easily be explained by the mere contrast of lighting found in their 
respective countries, Holland and Italy. 

Although Claude does not approach the Dutchman in delicacy and pro- 
fundity of draughtsmanship, yet he had absorbed from Italy a certain 
sense of bigness of design which is very satisfying and totally unlike the 
art of the North. In any case, Claude, like Rembrandt, was a pioneer, 
and a very great one ; a man who prepared the way for the great land- 
scape etchers of England. 

Van Dyck (1599-1641) and Rembrandt (1606—1669).—- Born a little later, 
but both outlived by Claude, were the two men who were to change the 
whole development of etching: Van Dyck and Rembrandt. These men, 
both from the Low Countries—the Fleming who travelled extensively and 
left his mark directly upon our own artists, and the Dutchman who never 
left his own land, but whose work soon became still more sought atter 
abroad—these two set a standard for portrait, figure and landscape etching 
which has remained generation after generation until the present day. 

There is hardly a man who has come after Rembrandt but has been, 
directly or indirectly, influenced by his all-embracing genius. 

No great artist of Rembrandt’s calibre has time in the space of a work- 
ing life to explore all the possibilities of even one medium, and though he 
may feel that in certain directions things might be accomplished, he can 
only hint at them and pass on along the main track which he has selected, 
or that circumstances have forced upon him. 

These hints of what were but side-tracks on the road of the master are 
often followed up and carried further by his many followers, each working 
along a gradually diverging path, until, at the end, it is sometimes difficult 


1 “ Ktchings,”’ 1911. 


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BEGA, WHO FOLLOWED REMBRANDT, HAD YET SOMETHING DEFINITE TO SAY FOR HIMSELF. 
From a proof in the British Museum. 


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Etching. | 14x64. 
Plate 36 


CATTLE & HERD-BOY. pu JArpIn. 


ONE OF THE FINEST PLATES OF THIS FIRST G PROBABLY GREATEST OF ANIMAL ETCHERS. NOTE THE INTIMATE 
CHARACTERIZATION <> THE ECONOMY OF MEANS. 


From a proof in the British Museum. 


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186 BRIEF SURVEY OF ETCHERS UP TO YEAR 1800 


to trace them back to the common source and the inspiration of their 
setting out. 

Before dealing with these followers, however, we must note the one 
contemporary who remained uninfluenced by either Rembrandt or Callot. 

Hollar (1607-1677).— Artistically, Wenzel Hollar need not interest the 
student to any great extent, though some of his small landscapes are very 
beautiful, and he had a great command over his medium, as, considering 
that his output numbered nearly three thousand plates, is not surprising. 
He was born in Prague and came to England with the Karl of Arundel, 
where he remained most of his life, and where he died. His etchings 
embrace a great variety of subject from landscape (Plate 34) to figure and 
still-life, drawn mostly in a hard, formal manner, which occasionally 
becomes very charming; but his outlook was essentially that of an 
engraver. At one time he was employed by Faithorne at a wage of four- 
pence per hour ! 

van Ostade (1610-1685) and Bega (1620-1664).—One of Rembrandt’s 
side-tracks which was immediately exploited was genre ; but van Ostade 
never, and his pupil Bega only rarely, approached their great prototype. 
I thoroughly agree with Sir Frederick Wedmore when he says that Bega 
has not yet had his day. His work (Plate 35) has a breadth of vision which 
far surpasses that of his master, and lacks Ostade’s cloying “‘ prettyness.”’ 
Bold, simple (both in design and execution) and dramatic, it deserves the 
careful study of every serious student. 

Nor, in portraiture, could Bol, Lievens and the rest in Holland, nor 
Castiglione in Italy, come within measurable distance of Rembrandt at 
his best, though I am convinced that many of the still accepted ‘“‘ Rem- 
brandt ”’ heads are by these and similar etchers. 

du Jardin (1622-1678).—The eldest and perhaps the best of all the 
group who carried on the tradition by specializing almost exclusively in 
the drawing of animals was Karel du Jardin (Plate 36). There is a tre- 
mendous solidity and intimacy in his plates of cattle. Hamerton tells us 
that he was greatly admired by Haden, and I do not wonder at this. 

Paul Potter (1625-1654) also did some powerful plates along similar 
lines (Plate 37). 

Zeeman (1623-1663).—Reynier Nooms (his real name) did some fine sea- 
scapes which, as we shall see later, made a great impression upon Meryon 
(Plate 38). Callot’s influence—possibly through Claude—is very marked 
in his figures, especially the silhouettes against an expanse of sea (Plate 89). 

Naiwynx (1624-1654). | Although a few years senior to Jacob Ruysdael, 

Ruysdael (c. 1628-1682).) H. Naiwynx is said to have been a follower of 
the better-known etcher. I think some of his etchings are quite as 
fine as, if not finer than, his master’s. All these men followed up lavish 
hints thrown out by Rembrandt, with great success, each in his 
own groove. Ruysdael’s landscapes foreshadowed those of our own 
[A. v. de Velde (1635-1672).] Norwich masters, while some of Adriaen 
van de Velde’s cattle (Plate 40) are hardly surpassed in the whole history 


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188 BRIEF SURVEY OF ETCHERS UP TO YEAR 1800 


of etching. They are wonderful in their truth and observation of 
accidental lighting. 

G. B. Tiepolo (1696-1770).—Returning once more to Italy, we find, in 
the next century, real etchings being produced by G. B. Tiepolo, but the 
art has become weakened and prettyfied. Technically perfect and full of 
grace and charm, the prints do not move one in the least, accomplished 
though they are. 

Canaletto (1697-1768).—Real feeling is expressed in the somewhat 
austere plates of that master painter, G. A. Canale, whose strong, simple 
line-work gives one intense pleasure, and may well have been the parent 
of much subsequent etching where brilliant effects of sunlight upon build- 
ings has been the motv/. 

Hogarth (1697-1764).—In England the only etcher who merits any 
attention at this period is William Hogarth. He was one—the greatest— 
of a group of satirists and cartoonists who used etching amongst other 
mediums to express their comments on the life of their time. Hogarth, 
however, being a great portrait painter, produced a few plates of import- 
ance artistically, notably the “‘ Lord Lovat’”’ (Plate 41), but even here the 
work suggests the outlook of the engraver more than a little. 

Piranesi (1720-1778).—Another Italian whose work has considerably 
influenced modern etchers is G. B. Piranesi. His actual architectural 
output as a whole is dull and lacking the insight of Canaletto; but his 
outstanding performance with the needle is the imaginary series of prison 
torture-chambers known as the Carceri (Plate 42). Etched with extra- 
ordinary vigour and freedom, it is as much by their composition as by the 
treatment of line that the work of several moderns has been anticipated, 
e.g. Muirhead Bone’s “ Demolition of St. James’s Hall ”’ (interior). 

G. D. Tiepolo (1727-1804).—The last of the Italians whose influence was, 
I think, probably very important is Domenico Tiepolo, the son of Giovanni 
Battista. He was born in Venice! and travelled considerably with his 
father and brother, producing his ‘“‘ Flight into Egypt” plates in 1753 in 
Wiirzburg. He arrived in Spain in 1761 with his father and brother 
Lorenzo, leaving for Venice again soon after the death of the older man. 
His work resembles that of his father in many ways, but is, in my opinion, 
far more powerful in its massing, and simpler in design. The blacks are 
bitten with great force, and though the delicacy of draughtsmanship is 
lacking, so is the prettyness or effeminacy which characterizes nearly all 
the father’s work. I think it extremely probable that it was Domenico’s 
work which influenced the young Goya so largely rather than that of the 
elder Tiepolo, as is usually supposed. His series of the “ Flight into 
Egypt” (Plate 43) shows marked affinity to Goya’s first known plate of 
the same subject, especially in the strong massing of the blacks. It is 
this plate which M. Loys Delteil says shows pre-Tiepolo characteristics. 
Pre-Battista, certainly ; butit has the very quality of a plate by Domenico. 


1 Mr. Hind says 1726 in Madrid, which could hardly be the case, as his father 
did not go to Spain till 1761 or 1762, and Madrid till 4th July, 1762. 











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M. Delteil seems to forget that Goya might well have been in actual con- 
tact with the Tiepolos before he left for Italy, so that, even if his supposi- 
tion that Goya’s first plate was executed before his journey be correct 
(as is probable), it still does not affect the argument as to possible influence. 
Goya went to Madrid first in 1763 or 1764, i.e. about two years after the 
Italians’ arrival! (See Chapter XXII.) 

The Runcimans: Alexander (1786-1785), John (1744-1768). And now 
we come to the beginnings of etching in Great Britain, where Hollar had 
left a definite technical tradition which, however, seems to have been 
merged into the art of the gravers once more. At any rate, the school 
which, I hold, began with the men I am about to mention, had little in 
common, either technically or artistically, with Hollar. 

In Edinburgh were two brothers, Alexander and John Runciman, and 
one of these produced (presumably in 1764) the notable ‘‘ Nether-bow 
port’ (Plate 44). I have found two proofs of this plate in the Scottish 
National Gallery, both touched—the one with pen and the other with 
wash—which bear no engraved signature ; but upon the former appear 
what seem to be the initials A.R. upon the coat of arms over the gate- 
way, in pen and ink; while in the lower margin “J. Runciman” was 
written in pencil, the J being subsequently altered to A. 

In Bryan’s “ Dictionary of Painters” this plate is also attributed to 
Alexander, of whom we know more than of his brother. He was the son 
of an Edinburgh builder and architect, and was apprenticed to a painter, 
John Norrie, at the age of fourteen. In 1766 both brothers went to Italy, 
being sent by Sir James Clerk, of Penicuik, where in 1768, in Naples, 
John died ; Alexander returning three years later. 

Now there is a second etched plate done by a hack engraver (A. Cameron) 
after the original under which is inscribed “drawn by John Runciman,” 
and upon this it also states that the gate was demolished! in 1764, 1.e. 
two years before the Runcimans left for Italy. I have seen a number of 
Alexander’s etchings—all undated—which are of no artistic interest what- 
ever, being carelessly drawn pseudo-classical scribbles, evidently inspired 
by his Italian study. They have a certain vitality and freedom, but are 
totally unlike the very deliberate and beautifully drawn figures in the 
““ Nether-bow Port.” 

There is very definite Callot influence in these figures; and not only 
this: the resemblance to Meryon’s figures in the Saint Etienne du Mont 
and L’arche du Pont Notre Dame is quite evident, showing, I can only 
think, a common ancestry. 

It is quite easy to imagine that the Runcimans may have had access 
to Callot prints. We know that many foreign etchings were in Scotland 
at that date (see below), and as Callot was at the time one of the known 
masters it is probable that his prints were amongst them. Scotland was 
in very close touch with France—far closer just then than England—and 
we have seen that Faithorne’s book (probably the earliest on the subject 


1 In the etching it is shown in process of demolition. 








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Plate 44 


NETHER-BOW PORT, EDINBURGH, 1764. J. RUNCIMAN. 
NoTE THE CALLOT FIGURES IN THIS EARLIEST OF SCOTS ETCHINGS OF REAL IMPORTANCE 
From a touched proof in the National Gallery of Scotland. 


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196 BRIEF SURVEY OF ETCHERS UP TO YEAR 1800 


in this country) exalted Callot as worthy of all etchers’ emulation. What 
more probable than that Runciman should model himself upon one of the | 
best-known etchers at that time ? 

Taking the known work of Alexander into account, together with the 
presumably contemporary attribution on the engraving, I am convinced 
that this fine plate was by his brother John, who would have been twenty 
at the time. Ifso, Scotland lost a great etcher prematurely. There must 
be other equally good plates extant by John Runciman, as the certainty 
of technique makes it clear that he must have had considerable previous 
practice. In any case, I think that this plate, on its own merits, estab- 
lishes a claim for Runciman as the first Scottish etcher (yet discovered) 
of any importance, and, in its scaffolding motif, anticipates both Meryon 
and the living Scotsmen. 

Clerk of Eldin (1728-1812).—Another interesting Scot of this time was 
John Clerk, of Eldin, seventh son of Sir John (2nd Bart.) of Penicuik. 
He was brother to Alexander Runciman’s patron, Sir James, and so may 
have known the Runcimans. Under some of his copies are written the 
names of Rembrandt, Weirotter and Claude ; men from three different 
countries. His original work proceeds from extreme amateurish bungling 
to very fine work indeed. There is a notably beautiful plate, which is 
probably one of the last executed by the artist, ““ Dalkeith from the North- 
West ” (Plate 48), splendidly designed and etched. It might well pass for 
a first state of Turner’s Liber Studiorum. Another large and very personal 
plate, in spite of the strong Claude influence, is “‘ Hill-head, near Lasswade”’ 
(Plate 47). One sees Claude in the silhouette figures, but the arrangement 
and beautiful tree massing Clerk derived from his study of nature. It is 
not an Italianized scene. It is purely Scottish, and more than this, 
typically Lothian. 

Paul Sandby (1725-1809) is said to have taught Clerk the technique of 
etching, and the influence of Hollar is plainly seen in such plates as the 
magnificent ‘‘ Durham ”’ (Plate 45) : not in the design, but the mannerism 
of describing distant tree-forms on a hillside (compare Plate 34). This is 
still more marked in many small plates in which Hollar’s trick of inscribing 
the title in the sky is also imitated. 

In his many seascapes Zeeman was obviously the model, and here again 
we have the silhouette figures derived (as in the case of Claude) from Callot. 
The first issue of Clerk’s plates took place in 1825 to the members of the 
Bannatyne Club and consisted of only twenty-eight subjects. Later many 
of the smaller coppers were discovered by his son, Lord Eldin (whose 
mother was a younger sister of the famous Adam brothers), and a second 
book was issued by the Club in 1855 containing some eighty plates. They 


1 Since the above was written I have found a quite emphatic statement corrobora- 
ting my view. This is in the ‘‘ History of Art in Scotland,” by R. Brydall, 1889, 
p. 165. The author here says that this plate was one of the few etched by John 
Runciman from his own pictures. The painting belonged to the Duke of Sutherland, 
Brydall deplores the loss to art in Runciman’s early death, 


BRIEF SURVEY OF ETCHERS UP TO YEAR 1800 197 


are very crudely printed and give one no idea of the quality obtained from 
_ them by the artist. The “ Durham,”’ for instance, suffered greatly. 

®:, Clerk experimented with tone-biting and soft-ground ; but he did not 
understand the resin ground, apparently, and the attempt at aquatint was 
always a failure. He was also too fond of re-working both in etching and 
drypoint. His period of activity was extremely short—from 1770 to 1782— 
but in that time he executed at least 104 plates. 

Many of these are quite small, but none the less beautiful and technically 
perfect. 

Like Seymour Haden, he did not begin to etch till past his fortieth 
year ; he was an amateur, and he confined his work to subjects of the 
country he loved: and though hardly of the first rank—he was not a 
trained draughtsman—he showed the promise of what was coming in the 
next century, and his best plates are extraordinarily fine.} 

Gainsborough (1727-1788).—The fame of Thomas Gainsborough as a 
painter has entirely overshadowed his very important work as an etcher. 
He is said to have executed only some twenty plates, the most vital of 
which are in soft-ground and aquatint. In their freedom, bold massing 
and subordination of detail they are totally unlike anything hitherto 
produced. 

The actual dates of these plates is not known, but in all probability they 
were fairly mature works. We are told that he learnt his technique in 
London in his late teens—and no doubt the ordinary line etchings, which 
have no great merit, were produced early—but I should be surprised if 
the loosely handled aquatints were executed before the sixties. It seems 
probable that such a plate as the one reproduced (Plate 48A) was etched 
by means of a process now—I believe—no longer used. It is strictly 
analogous to the “‘ pen method ” (see Chapter XIII). When the ground 
has been laid the darks are painted with some mixture which is soluble in 
water. A coat of varnish is then spread over all and the plate immersed 
in water, which causes the parts so painted to come away, leaving the 
ground exposed for biting. In normal aquatint the lighter parts bear 
evidence of brushwork. In Gainsborough’s case one can see that the darks 
show direct brushmarks. However they were done, these few works are 
extremely beautiful and place the artist as the pioneer of the true 
British landscape school. 


1 He had a curiously parallel etching career to that of Lord Aylesford, whose 
brilliant work in England has been described by Mr. Oppé in the “ Print Collec- 
tor’s Quarterly ’ (October, 1924). Though born later (1751) the Earl began to etch 
in the same year as the Scot, and died in the same year. His plates are very beautiful. 


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200 


CHAPTER XX 
DURER AND LUCAS VAN LEYDEN 


BEFORE continuing our survey into the nineteenth century we must return 
to look a little more fully into the work of a few of the supreme draughts- 
men who happen to have expressed themselves with the bitten and 
drypoint line. Their work was only glanced at in the preceding chapter. 

Firstly that of Albrecht Diirer. 

Whoever actually znvented etching, or working with the point on the 
bare metal, Diirer was an undoubted pioneer in both arts; and to him 
will always belong the honour of being the first to produce really great 
works in both mediums. 

Diirer was one of the men of “ universal’ genius concerning whose life 
(as in the cases of such as Rembrandt, Leonardo or Shakespeare) the 
smallest incidents have been the subject of controversy without 
end. I have no intention of trying my ’prentice hand at this game. 
It is an easy, a very dangerous and a most unprofitable one for the 
artist. 

Diirer was one of the few men of his rank who have left authentic 
biographical details, and with them one cannot go far wrong. He was 
born in Nuremburg in 1471, the son of a Hungarian goldsmith immigrant 
who was for some years with the artists of the Netherlands before settling 
in Germany. His father therefore was obviously a man of wide knowledge 
in artistic matters, and the son had the advantage of learning his craft— 
the handling of the burin—while quite young. Later, Albrecht became 
apprenticed for three years to one Wolgemut. 

The great engraver Schéngauer was never Diirer’s master, but he cer- 
tainly must have influenced him considerably. Jacopo de’ Barbari was 
also a great influence on the young artist, and from him Diirer got the 
first hints for his ‘‘ canon of proportion for the human figure,” founded 
presumably upon the works of the great Greek sculptors. (As a model 
of what proportion in lettering should be, and for its grouping upon the 
page, could anything be more beautiful than the book of 1534 issued by 
his widow ?) 

Without concerning ourselves with the disputed first journey to Venice, 
it is interesting to know that the artist did a considerable amount of 
travelling in his life, though always returning to Nuremburg. At least 
four years—from April, 1490, to May, 1494—-were spent travelling: later 
he made a visit to Venice, and still later to the Low Countries, as well as 
working in other towns in Germany. 

No matter to whom the honour of teaching him belongs, he was a born 


201 


202 DURER AND LUCAS VAN LEYDEN 


draughtsman, and the extraordinary fidelity of his early self-portrait! when 
only thirteen years of age is truly astounding. 

Being what he was, the greatest master of the burin (in my opinion) 
that the world has ever seen, it is quite natural that his few essays in the 
less known mediums of etching and drypoint should be strongly tinged 
with the spirit of that austere art. Freedom of line, as we understand it, 
was not Diirer’s affaire, and whether or no he realized the possibilities of 
etching in that direction, he shows no sign of having done so. He laid 
his lines singly, firmly and deliberately, as was his manner in handling 
the graver, and as he employed no stopping-out, and presumably but one 
thickness of point, the comparatively flat effects this method obtained 
probably convinced him that etching as a medium was inferior to en- 
graving either upon copper or upon wood. The small number of his bitten 
plates would seem to imply, at least, that this was the case. 

Fine as the etchings and drypoints are, it goes against the instincts of 
an artist to separate them entirely from the whole of Diirer’s noble series 
of engraved plates. Until I was asked to prepare this book I never thought 
of them in separate terms. Whether they are the work of the burin or 
the acid, or, as I sometimes suspect, of the two combined, does not seem 
important compared with the enjoyment and instruction obtainable by 
study of their composition—the splendid dignity of arrangement, balance, 
light and dark masses—and the intense feeling expressed in almost every 
one of them. 

As split up they must be (since engraved plates do not come within our 
present scope), we find that both drypoints and etchings were looked upon 
by Diirer as requiring no very different treatment from engraving proper. 
This is less true of the three (or four) known drypoints, as the artist 
certainly made use of the burr, the distinctive characteristic of the medium, 
in that extraordinarily beautiful plate “St. Jerome ”’ (Plate 49), wrought 
when its author was forty-one years of age. 

All six of the bitten plates were of iron, and whether Diirer preferred 
this metal or simply used it because it was the tradition from the armourers 
to employ iron for working upon with acid, he produced magnificent results. 

The first alleged drypoint (1510) is the ‘‘ Saint Veronica with the Suda- 
rium,” of which only two proofs are known. After this come the ‘“ Man 
of Sorrows’ and “St. Jerome” (1512), followed a little later by the 
“Holy Family.”” In 1515 were etched the second ‘‘ Man of Sorrows ”’ 
and ‘‘ Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane ” (Plate 50), and in the next 
year the “ Angel with the Sudarium” and “ Pluto and Proserpine.” 
Undated is the so-called ‘“‘ Man in Despair,” and last—his largest plate— 
“The Field-Serpent of Nuremburg,” generally known as the Cannon, 
in 1518. 

The most interesting thing to note in these etchings, from the technical 
point of view, is that, in them, Diirer shows what can be done by the 
simplest of all methods: the one drawing and biting-in without recourse 

1 T refer to a drawing—not a plate. 





Plate 49 


SAINT JEROME. Durer. 


UPON THE RARE OCCASIONS WHEN DURER WORKED IN DRYPOINT HE UTILIZED ITS DISTINCTIVE 
QUALITY—THE BURR—WITH MAGNIFICENT EFFECT. 


From a proof in the British Museum. 


203 





















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; 
; 









































82x 6}. 


& 


Etc 


Plate 50 


THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN 


URER ETCHED UPON IRON & 


URER. 


D 


THIS, THOUGH YIELDING A CERTAIN 


BIT ALL HIS LINES TO THE SAME DEPTH. 
DOES NOT DETRACT FROM THE WONDERFUL DESIGN & 


D 


DRAUGHTSMANSHIP. 


NESS OF EFFECT, 


FLAT 


From a proof in the British Museum. 


204 


DURER AND LUCAS VAN LEYDEN 205 


to stopping-out. Ifthe reader will refer to Chapter II, he will realize that 
Diirer’s work is the most remarkable illustration of what was meant when 
I wrote that great works of art could be produced with nothing more than 
the essentials : plate, ground, needle and acid. This apparently was the 
extent of his outfit; and yet how many better-equipped etchers have 
made finer plates ? 

The acids known in Diirer’s time certainly included sulphuric and nitric, 
and for the actual mordant probably employed the student may refer to 
Chapter VI: Le Begue’s MS. 

The greatest engraver after Diirer who also used the bitten line at times 
was Lucas van Leyden. Unfortunately for our present purpose there is 
very little to be said of it, and still less seems to be known concerning 
himself. Many of his engravings are more or less etched, and I cannot 
help suspecting (by certain qualities of line) that Diirer himself used the 
acid upon his copper engravings. Those who have the leisure to study 
whatever trial proofs there may be in existence are in a better position 
to pronounce upon this point. We are on safer ground in affirming that 
Lucas was the first man of importance, in the North at least, to etch upon 
copper with no ulterior motive of engraving the bitten work. And this in 
itself forms a landmark in the survey of early etching, and shows Van 
Leyden as a pioneer in the art. 

His sympathy with humanity and insight into human emotions are, 
I feel, as great as Diirer’s own ; and his art is, in a way, a little less con- 
scious. One can compare his magnificent “‘ Adoration of the Magi ”’ with 
Diirer’s equally marvellous “‘ Great Fortune” or “ Melancholia,” and 
wonder wherein lies the difference. They are all so intensely moving, and 
yet the work of the two men is so different ! But these are not etchings, 
and I have nothing to do with them here, except that, after all, both these 
men influenced countless etchers (including Rembrandt)! by work which 
was not etched ; and it is impossible to ignore their engraved plates merely 
because they were executed with a tool technically known as a graver 
instead of by means of a tool which equally graves the lines but which 
we choose to call a drypovnt. 

Of Lucas’s etched plates the best known are “‘ The Fool and the Girl,” 
“St. Catherine ” (Plate 51) and “‘ David in Prayer.” There is graver work 
in all, and it is extremely hazardous to offer a definite opinion on many 
passages. These early men drew with the échoppe (see Chapter V), and 
the result is a line which swells and tapers exactly like an engraved line 
even after it has been bitten-in. 

On the other hand, there is a certain flatness in the whole effect of 
some plates which immediately suggests the acid without stopping-out ; 
while there are passages of tone upon the unworked parts of ‘‘ The Fool 
and the Girl” which look very like foul-biting. Again, certain lines are 
hooked at their extremities, which is not a characteristic of the burin 


1 It is on record that Rembrandt strained his resources to the limit in order to 
procure a set of Lucas’s prints. 


Ae REEL ASS : 


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44X 3. 


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NE 


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LUCAS WA 


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the Bri 


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THAT OF THE BURIN- 


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is 


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From a proof 


206 


DURER AND LUCAS VAN LEYDEN 207 


stroke, but is almost inevitable in drawing upon wax freely with a 
point. 

I am inclined to think that the greater part of the Maximilian portrait 
—one of the finest plates—is etched ; parts being strengthened with the 
burin, and parts, such as the modelling of the cheek-bone, being directly 
graved. Here again many an individual line under the magnifying glass 
suggests engraving because of its pre-biting character, i.e. Lucas pressed 
much more heavily in the middle of the stroke and lifted his point with 
a flick upwards as if he were still employing his cutting tool. It is this 
habit—common to practically all the etchers till Rembrandt’s time, and 
still advocated in the English eighteenth-century textbooks—which is so 
deceptive, especially when judging a proof which has been mishandled or 
one from a worn plate. From the nature of the échoppe it was easy, by 
turning it in the fingers during the stroke, to lay a line which began or 
ended (or both) in a fine point, but swelled out in the centre, thus counter- 
feiting that of the burin. 


CHAPTER XXI 
REMBRANDT AND VAN DYCK 


From the death of Diirer, the greatest engraver, to the birth of Rem- 
brandt, the greatest etcher the world has yet seen, we pass over nearly 
eighty years—from the sixteenth to the seventeenth century. 

Van Dyck, it is true, was born a few years in advance of his greater 
contemporary, yet his art is so limited in comparison, that the Dutchman 
must come first. 

Rembrandt (1606—1669).—Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn was born at 
Leyden on July 15th, 1606, his father being a miller of that town. 

There is no need to go into details of his life, as the books on the subject 
are legion, and we are here only concerned with his work upon the copper. 

Like most of the greatest figures in the world’s history, Rembrandt, 
except in his art, was apparently a perfectly normal individual. He was 
typical of his time and of his country: he was no recluse, no saint, no 
star-gazer, no self-satisfied egoist, no madman. He loved his work in 
particular, but he loved art in general and collected it in all forms, when- 
ever possible. He loved the things of this world and painted them with 
a gusto which has never been excelled ; but he understood also the things 
of the spirit, and expressed them in such plates as “ Christ Healing the 
Sick’? in a manner which few have ever equalled. 

I have already written (in Chapter XVIII) on the subject of his intense 
interest in life in all forms, and in humanity in particular. If to this is 
added an amazing executive skill and a prodigious aptitude for hard work, 
all the requisites for producing the greatest art are combined in his person. 

The emotions that he felt from whatever life brought to him—and they 
were deep—joy and sorrow, exultation and dejection, this great man ex- 
pressed in a continuous stream of noble paintings, drawings and etchings. 

At the very outset he was successful with the public, but the more 
deeply he saw into character, and the more truly he expressed what he 
saw, the less was he appreciated ; so that, at the end, he died deeply in 
debt—an indebtedness partly brought about, it is true, by his extravagant 
collecting of pictures and oljets d’art—largely because he was too great 
for his time. ; 

So much has been written in praise of Rembrandt by so many far abler 
writers than I, that there is no need for me to say more than that I fully 
endorse all but that extravagant praise which endeavours to make of one 
of the most human—and consequently most lovable—personalities the 
world has produced in historical times, a god whom no man may love, 
but only worship. 

I remember when I was once criticizing one of Rembrandt’s bad plates 


208 


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Plate 53 
SELF PORTRAIT & OTHER NOTES. RempBranpt. 


SHOWING HIS CONTINUAL STUDY OF CHARACTER. 


From a proof in the British Museum, 


210 





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Plate 54 
THE RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL SON. REMBRANDT. 


ONE OF THE MOST PERFECT COMPOSITIONS EXECUTED WITH THE PURE BITTEN LINE. 
From a proof in the British Museum. 


211 








AO TI IT Te 


Etching. H. 152. ay ae | 54x33. 
Plate 55 


THREE HEADS OF WOMEN, ONE ASLEEP. REMBRANDT, 
Novtk HOW THE TREATMENT OF THE SLEEPING WOMAN SUGGESTS THAT OF THE YOUNG WHISTLER, 
From a proof in the British Museum, 


212 


REMBRANDT AND VAN DYCK 213 


(if it is indeed by him) in the company of one of our official experts, how, 
with stern reproof, he remarked, “It is sufficient for us to know that 
Rembrandt did a thing, and therefore had good reason for doing it.” 

Such an attitude—and we have seen so much of it in Whistler’s case— 
can only do harm by making the object of worship appear ridiculous. It 
is surely common knowledge that the supremacy attained by a man at 
his best does not make it impossible for him to produce bad work when 
at his worst. And Rembrandt was a man; not a god. 

The critics have laid it down that the etched work may be roughly 
divided into three periods. First: pure etching; second: etching and 
drypoint ; third: pure drypoint. Like most arbitrary classifications, this 
is anything but accurate, but there is just sufficient truth in it to make it 
appear plausible. 

The verdict that the work became finer and finer till the end is still 
more questionable. That his art in general—his painting and drawing— 
went on expanding till his death I unhesitatingly admit: the latest work 
in oils is unquestionably the greatest ; but not so in etching. In all 
probability this was very largely a matter of eyesight, but partly due to 
the fact that few old men can take much delight in processes and the over- 
coming of their peculiar difficulties. Therefore Rembrandt was often 
inclined to take up the drypoint when the etching-needle would have 
probably served his purpose better. 

That the man’s breadth of outlook continued to increase we are sure, 
and in certain plates—notably the ‘‘ Three Crosses ’’—this almost over- 
balances the scale weighed down on its technical side by clumsy draughts- 
manship and handling. It may be said to equalize matters, perhaps ; 
though I think no plate which is faulty in drawing and indifferent in 
execution can claim a supreme place upon the merits of its composition 
and nobility of intention alone. 

The loftiness of conception reached in the fourth state of this plate 
(Plate 71) is quite awe-inspiring, yet how far short the execution falls in 
comparison with that of the “ Christ Healing the Sick ” (Plate 66). 

That this Crucifixion and the magnificent “‘ Christ presented to the 
People ” (Plate 76) have been so hostilely criticized by the followers of 
Whistler only shows how amazingly narrow the vision of men working 
along one groove may become. 

To return to Rembrandt’s early work: the first plate in the Hind 
Catalogue—the little head supposed to be of his mother—is one of the 
most perfect expressions of character in the whole wuwvre (see Plate 52), 
and in this its author—then only twenty-two—showed a marvellous sure- 
ness and freedom of line in one, not only very young, but who had had 
no access to work of similar vitality (in the medium), bequeathed to him 
by his forerunners. 

In the two later portraits—‘‘ La mére au voile noir” (H_ 52), and par- 
ticularly in the profile figure (H 51)—this deliberate, careful, yet free 
modelling was carried further on a larger scale, and they remain for ever 








Etchiag & Drypoint. H. 161. 16} x12} 
Plate 56 


THE DEATH OF THE VIRGIN. RrEmsBRAnpT. 
THE BEGINNING OF THE USE OF DRYPOINT AS AN ADJUNCT. 
From a proof in the British Museum. 


214 





Etching. H. 170. 518 x 5%. 
Plate 57 


MAN WITH A DIVIDED CAP. REMBRANDT. 


ONE OF THE MOST INTIMATE, G AT THE SAME TIME, PERFECTLY BITTEN OF ALL THE PORTRAITS. 


From a proof in the British Museum. 


215 


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218 REMBRANDT AND VAN DYCK 


masterpieces of portraiture, in spite of the fact that H 52 was marred 
in arrangement by the unfortunate addition of the table. 

Five years later (1636) comes that eloquent rendering of the Return of 
the Prodigal Son—perfect in composition and exquisite in line (Plate 54). 

The year after produced the “‘ Three Heads’ (H 152), a plate which 
in its first state—the single head of Saskia leaning on her hand—fore- 
shadows so much modern work ; and then, after a further two years, came 
the supreme work of this period, “The Death of the Virgin,” in which 
we find the beginning of Rembrandt’s reliance upon drypoint as an adjunct 
to his bitten line. It is one of the great masterworks (Plate 56). 

After 1640 we find landscape taking a much more important place in 
Rembrandt’s work: the wonderful pure line of the “Amsterdam ”’ 
(Plate 58) and “‘ Windmill,’ followed soon by the “ Three Trees,” and 
then by a little plate which, in spite of all that has been written in its 
dispraise, is most notable for its placing, “‘ Six’s Bridge.” 

At the same time as the “Amsterdam,” was wrought that most exquisite 
piece of draughtsmanship and intimate portrait “ The Man with Divided 
Cap ” (Plate 57), than which I can imagine no purer example of bitten line, 
and a few years later were etched “ The Raising of Lazarus ” and “ Christ 
Carried to the Tomb ”’ (Plate 62), in the same clean, simple line. In my 
own estimation such plates as these are quite unsurpassed by anything 
Rembrandt did later (or by any other artist since), and so far as [remember 
there is not a stroke of drypoint in any one of them. 

In 1643 the master threw off one of his “ suggestions ”’ to the artists 
of the future (see Chapter XVIII), none the less notable because a “ side- 
track.” This was “ The Hog ” (Plate 61), an extraordinary piece of search- 
ing realism, which has influenced countless animal draughtsmen from 
van Ostade to Blampied. 

Then, in 1647, we have the first astonishing example of delicate close- 
etching and drypoint carried to its utmost limit—so far that it well-nigh 
becomes mezzotint—in “Jan Six” standing reading at the window 
(Plate 63). This is an amazing piece of craftsmanship, but as a work of 
art it is (to me) infinitely lower in the scale than the immediately preceding 
pure etchings. Then comes the portrait of himself drawing at a window 
(1648), a wonderfully searching character study, but technically uninter- 
esting. It suggests hesitation between the manner of the “ Jan Six’ and 
a return to simpler methods (Plate 64). 

1650 was a noted year among years which were all notable. In it 
Rembrandt achieved two works—one a very small “ side-track,” and the 
other the greatest (I think) of his black-and-white career—which have 
formed models for emulation ever since: the “Shell” (Plate 67) and 
“Christ Healing the Sick” (Plate 66). This last is surely a culmination 
of the master’s technical development, a masterpiece of masterpieces, and 
in it he employs all the methods of etching, from the strong, simple outline 
of the group to the left of Christ, to the most subtle gradations of tone 
in the shadows suggested by the closest of cross-hatching. 


Hiatt, 
ey 
oe Ba ts 
A Siessusea cecenits: 


Etching. H. 189, 6y, x4 
Plate 60 


YOUNG MAN AT A DESK. Rempranpt. 


THIS IS ONE OF THE PLATES IN WHICH THE MASTER’S POWER OF OHARACTERIZATION IS SHOWN AT ITS HIGHEST, BUT IN 
WHICH THE TECHNIQUE IS BY NO MEANS PERFECT, ESPECIALLY IN THE LOWER HALF. 


From @ proof in the British Museum, 


219 





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1x43 
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Etching. 


Plate 62 


CHRIST CARRIED TO THE TOMB. 


REMBRANDT. 


DAY MOST EASILY IN THE WORK OF BAUER & ForaIn, 


ERFECT PLATE IS SEEN TO 


THE INFLUENCE OF THIS P 


From a proof in the British Museum. 


221 








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Plate 63 


JAN SIX. REMBRANDT. 


THE CLOSE DRYPOINT WORK OVER ETCHING, HERE, ALMOST PRODUCES THE QUALITY OF MEZZOTINT ; IT HAS HAD MANY 
IMITATORS, BUT IS HARDLY ONE OF THE ARTIST’S GREAT PLATES, 


From a proof in the British Museum, 


222 











Etching & Drypoint. H. 229. 











| ott x 5 ts. 
Plate 64 


SELF PORTRAIT AT A WINDOW. Rempranpr. 


THIS TYPE OF PLATE HAS ALSO INFLUENCED MANY. IT HAS EXTRAORDINARY FIDELITY WITHOUT BEING 
i TECHNICALLY NOTABLE, 


From a proof in the British Museum. 


223 















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mbrandh. 


690, 


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Be 





SS SESE 


X Bye. 


6y5 


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Etching. 


Plate 65 


BEGGARS 


THIS, NOT A GREAT PLATE, IS SHOWN FOR THE SAKE OF ITS 


REMBRANDT 


ORK OF SEVERAL LATER MEN, 


& STrRana. 


INFLUENCE ON THE W 


MILLET, 


From a proof in the Brit 


, 


Norasly BEGA 


ish Museum, 


224 


REMBRANDT AND VAN DYCK 225 


In the year following there was once more a return to the pure, open, 
bitten line in the plate which even Whistler praised to the point of exag- 
geration, “‘ Clement de Jonghe ”’ (Plate 69), and immediately after we find 
Rembrandt working out his most important “ side-track ” in the drypoint 
landscapes which have been the prototypes for countless moderns ; the 
“Landscape with Trees, Farm-buildings and Tower ”’ (“‘ Landscape with 
ruined Tower,’ Wedmore describes it) being one of the finest. The “‘ Gold- 
weighers’ Field ” (Plate 68) is perhaps the best known of all these. 

Then in the one year (1654) come the simply etched ‘Christ at 
Emmaus ” (Plate 75) : a very perfect plate ; the “ Entombment ”’ (Plates 
73 and 74) and “ Descent from the Cross ”’ (Plate 72), in both of which the 
artist carries further his experiments in leaving ink upon the surface in 
printing instead of carrying out the work in line (a method disastrous in 
its effect upon modern printers), by which he obtained some very beautiful 
and mysterious results. The same may be said of the ‘Adoration of the 
Shepherds,”’ where the lantern alone approaches the colour of the paper 
(Plate 70). 

Only two years later, however, Rembrandt returned to the close, careful, 
searching work of the “ Lutma” and “ Tholinx ”’ portraits, the latter 
being one of his most perfect examples of fully realized drypoint over 
etching. 

The use of free, slashing drypoint had culminated the previous year (as 
we noted at the beginning) in the great plates “The Three Crosses ” 
(Plate 71) and “ Christ presented to the People,’ 1655 (Plate 76), and after 
these and the portraits just mentioned there are few plates of importance. 

As far as we know Rembrandt did no etchings during the last eight 
years of his life. Quite probably he found the medium too severe a tax 
upon his eyesight. The last known plate (and one of his best nudes) is 
“The Woman with an Arrow,” 1661 (Plate 77). 

Influence on Successors.—I append a list of some typical plates showing 
how vast a field was covered by this great man, and how even his “ side- 
tracks ”’ have suggested fields for exploitation to almost every etcher who 
came after. 

I do not pretend, of course, that this includes nearly all the best prints ; 
neither do I suggest, for a moment, that the men whose names I have 
coupled with individual etchings plagiarized those works. In many cases 
I have no doubt they never evensawthem. But their tradition was passed 
on and picked up here and there—no more than a hint sufficing, perhaps— 
where the genius of the successor was ready to receive and exploit it. 

It should be understood that in selecting so small a proportion of 
Rembrandt’s work it is only possible to suggest general influences, and 
the numbers being taken from a total of thirty-one, the words “ or similar 
work ”’ are implied in every case. 

The chart which follows is divided into half-century periods from the 
first known print to the present day ; and in it there is no attempt to 
compile either a complete list of even the important etchers, or to indicate 


P 





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Etching. H. 251i. 
: Plate 69 
CLEMENT DE JONGHE. REMBRANDT. 


THIS PORTRAIT HAS BEEN UNIVERSALLY ADMIRED, NOTABLY BY WHISTLER. 
From a proof in the British Museum. 


229 


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231 


232 REMBRANDT AND VAN DYCK 


more than a few of the more obvious cross-influences. The names are 
placed in the positions corresponding to the period of the individual’s 
important work, or rather its beginning, not corresponding to the date of 
birth, which in a few cases reverses the order, e.g. the relative positions 
of Bauer and Forain. Although Forain was born before Bauer, his sig- 
nificant plates only appeared in the present century. 


TABLE SHOWING REMBRANDT’S GREAT RANGE, AND HIS 
INFLUENCE ON SUCCEEDING ETCHERS. 


(Nearly all the Rembrandts are here illustrated.) 


1. Portrait of his Mother H 1 1628 | Bauer, 9, 15, 19, 27, 29 
2. Old Man with a Beard H 48 1631 | Bega, 2, 4, 8, 16, 17, 18 
3. Mother in Profile H 51 1631 | Blampied, 1, 2, 6, 7, 13, 14 
4. Self-portrait H 90 1632 | Bone, 10, 11, 16, 17, 20, 22 
5. Prodigal Son H147 1636 | Bracquemond, 13, 21 
6. Three Heads H152 1637 | Brangwyn, 5, 18, 25, 26, 29 
7. Death of the Virgn H161 1639 
8. Man with Divided Cap H170 1640 | Gameton: 10, M1, 20, 22 
, - glione, <, 4, 0, 
9. Triumph of Mordecai H 172 c. 1640 Crome, 11, 20.. Also ‘‘ The Three Trees ” 
10. Amsterdam H176 = 1640 (through Ruysdael) 
11. Landscape with Cottage ; 
and Haybarn H177 Forain, 15,.19, 25, 27, 29 
12. Man at Desk wearing Geddes, 1, 2, 3, 4, 11, 16.20, 22 
E mene 3 a ae Goya, through the Tiepolos 
: e Ho 
Also ae Sleeping Dog H 174 c. 1640 pls AUS Nb Leb is ue oe 
14, Six’s Bridge H 209 1645 | Jacque, 1, 2, 6, 13, 20, 24 
15. Christ Carried to the Jacquemart, 21 
Tomb H215 1645 | du Jardin, 13, 20 
16. Jan Six H 228 1647 John, iG 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 12 
17. Rembrandt Drawing H229 1648 | Jongkind, 14 
19. Ghect Healing the Sick il 536 1649 p00, RL AD a oh eae alae 
20. Landscape with Trees McBey, 10, 11, 14, 15, 20 
and Farm-buildings H 244 1650 | van Ostade, 13, 16, 17, 18 
21. The Shell H 248 1650 
22. The Goldweighers’ a SS 
Field H 249 165] | Strang, 4, 5, 11, 15, 17, 18, 19, 22, 28, 30 
23. Clement de Jonghe H 251 1651 | Tiepolo, G. B. and G. D., 2, 13, 18 
24. Adoration of : 
Shepherds H255 1652 | Vande Velde (Adriaen), 13 
25. The Three Crosses H 270 1653 Whistler, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 21, 
26. Descent from Cross H 280 1654 23 
27. The Entombment H 281 1654 | Zorn, 23, 30 
28. Christ at Emmaus H 282 1654 
29. Christ presented to 
the People H291 1655 
30. Woman with an Arrow H 303 =-:1661 


H refers to Mr. A. M. Hind’s catalogue. The numbers after the names in the 
right-hand column refer to the Rembrandts (1-30). These figures are merely 
approximate, and with a larger selection of Rembrandts the student can easily 
find still closer affinities. I refer always to the treatment rather than to the subject. 








Ci ae is 


Etching. H. 280. 81x 6). 
Plate 72 


THE DESCENT FROM THE CROSS. REMBRANDT. 


ONE OF THE MOST WONDERFULLY ARRANGED ¢Y DRAWN OF ALL ETCHINGS. NOTE THE BALANCE OBTAINED BY THE 
EMPTY BIER WITHOUT DETRACTION OF INTEREST FROM THE DRAMA ABOVE. 





From a proof in the British Museum. 


233 


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Plate 73 


THE ENTOMBMENT 


REMBRANDT. 


FIRST STATE 
ALTHOUGH THERE IS CONSIDERABLE ADDITIONAL LINE WORK, THE GREAT DIFFERENCE 


From proofs in the 


234 


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Etching. H. 281. 
Plate 74 


THE ENTOMBMENT. REMBRANDT. 


FINAL STATE. 
BETWEEN THESE TWO PROOFS WAS OBTAINED BY LEAVING INK ON THE SURFACE IN PRINTING. 
British Museum. 


235 


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Etching. H. 282i. 83 x 63. 
Plate 75 


CHRIST AT EMMAUS. REMBRANDT. 
SHOWING HOW REMBRANDT RETURNED TO CLEAN BITTEN LINE FOR SOME OF HIS FINEST LATER PLATES, 
From a proof in the British Museum. 


236 


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Plate 77 


WOMAN WITH AN ARROW. REMBRANDT. 


THERE IS BREADTH OF VISION DERE, BUT TECHNICAL DETERIORATION ; POSSIBLY A MATTER OF EYESIGHT, 
It 18 THE LAST KNOWN PLATE. 


From a proof in the British Museum. 


238 


CHART 


GERMAN AND ITALIAN LINE-ENGRAVERS 


1500 
MASTER oF ISIS 
(Possibly German) 
PARMIGIANO 
MELDOLLA 
1550 
1600 
CALLOT- 
CLAUDE 
2 VAN DYCK 
LIEVENS 
CASTIGLIONE BOL 
1650 
(portrait) 
"700 
G.B.NEPOLO 
CANALETTO 


1950 PIRANES! 















| 
MASTER oF THE HAUSBUCH (Adrypanl) 7 1500 






D HOPFER —— URS GRAF 
DU RER 
LUCAS van LEYDEN 
ninscuvoarr — }(andscape) 
$40 
SEGHERS (landscape) 600 
__ REMBRANDT HOLLAR 
Zeer MAN KQUJARDIN VAW OSTADE 
; A.van EVER DE mci 1650 
(landscape) (animals) — lf genre¥ still-life) 


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TURNER 
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COTMAN 
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1if0 MERYON a RACQUEMONID JACQUEMART /£50 
“LEGROS 
WHISTLER HADEN 
KEEN 
STEINLEN 
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1900 CAMERON ‘ BAUER PENNELL CLAUSEN rly 
y ZORN FORAIN r 
JOHN BRANGWYN BOWE BENSON 
GRIGGS PERCY SMITH M* BEY RLAMPIED 
LAURA KNIGHT 
Plate 78 


THIS CIART SERVES A DUAL PURPOSE. 
IMPORTANT ETCHERS, 


It SHOWS HOW WIDESPREAD IS THE INFLUENCE OF REMBRANDT. 


It ENABLES THE STUDENT TO FIND AT ONCE THE PERIODS OF MOST OF THE 
VERY FEW CROSS-INFLUENCES 


ARE INDICATED. 


239 


240 REMBRANDT AND VAN DYCK 


Van Dyck (1599-1641).—Of Sir Anthony van Dyck there is much less 
to be written. He was essentially a man who said one thing only, but 
that wonderfully well. He etched little more than a score of portraits, 
and most of these were afterwards worked over with the burin in part 
or altogether. Mr. Hind says that probably all, or nearly all, were pro- 
duced during the six years between his return from Italy to his native 
city—Antwerp—and his settling in England as court painter, 1.e. between 
1626 and 1632. 

When the student has seen one head by the master there is no great 
need, as in Rembrandt’s case, to go on looking at the rest. Some may 
prefer one particular portrait, but it is much more likely to be the subject 
which appeals than any great difference of treatment. 

To study the prints as Van Dyck left them, it is necessary to obtain 
them in the first, or at least an early state, before the hack engraver filled 
in the accessories and ruined everything. Until the nineteenth century 
these splendid, simply stated, magnificently drawn plates were not con- 
sidered of any importance, but since that time they have exercised a 
profound influence upon the modern portraitists. 

There is little of subtlety in the expression of the deeper character of 
his sitters—men of importance all—but it is entirely probable that his 
patrons were far more pleased with the portraits as likenesses than were 
the majority of Rembrandt’s. 

Van Dyck’s nature was utterly unlike that of the Dutchman—indeed, 
the two typify their countries—and he was incapable of searching into 
and comprehending the hidden depths of a personality to the extent that 
was not only possible to, but characteristic of, his great contemporary. 

The Fleming was essentially a courtier and carried this into his art ; 
while the Leyden miller’s son was bourgeois in everything except his art, 
and even there his taste was sometimes execrable ; but he was a seeker 
after truth, and what he sought he found. Therein lay his greatness, 
which will endure. 


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ate 


JAN SNELLINX. Van Dyck. 
FIRST STATE. 
A TYPICAL EXAMPLE OF THE ARYIST’S STRAIGHTFORWARD, CLEAN LINE-WORK. 
From a proof in the British Museum. 


Q 241 













App saansctuipntiohanghansnannmminnete transac enti 


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CHAEFTER XXII 
Goya, 1746-1828 


One hundred and forty years after Rembrandt’s birth, and, curiously 
enough, in a country which had so far failed to produce any etcher of 
importance, appeared one of the greatest etchers the world has yet seen : 
Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes, who was born at Fuendetodos in the 
province of Saragossa in 1746. 

When scarcely twelve years old Goya was sent to study under J. L. 
Martinez at Saragossa, where he remained five or six years. From there 
the artist first visited Madrid for a short time, but, as the result of a 
quarrel, he was obliged to fly to Italy to avoid arrest by the Inquisition. 
This incident was in a way typical of his after career. Upon returning 
to Madrid, in 1775, he married. 

Early Plates.—M. Loys Delteil (to whose catalogue raisonné, 1922, I 
am indebted for most of the details which are here given) states, as his 
opinion, that the first plate known, La fuite en Egypte (L.D. 1), belongs 
to a period (c. 1770) prior to Goya’s Italian visit. It is certainly a very 
telling composition, showing no apparent trace of the influence of the elder 
Tiepolo, but, as I have pointed out in Chapter XIX, it does show possible 
influence of the Italian’s son Domenico. As the Tiepolo family were 
already settled in Madrid when Goya arrived, it seems to me certain that 
it was a direct influence, probably of both father and son, but principally 
of the son, upon the young Spaniard. 

It often happens that the earliest efforts of an original artist show his 
personality more than those of an intermediate period when he is tempo- 
rarily led away by enthusiasm for some particular quality in the works 
of others less great than himself. In this way the earliest often anticipates 
the mature later work, and in this instance the impetuous spirit of Goya 
was more in sympathy with Domenico Tiepolo’s work than with the more 
accomplished but less interesting etchings of the father. 

However this may be, some of the earliest plates after Goya’s return 
show a certain technical timidity in his attempts to translate the canvases 
of Velasquez into black-and-white, quite unlike the bold massing of the 
Fuite. Then follow1—undated—some of the most interesting of the whole 
cuvre, in my opinion. The wonderful draughtsmanship and conception 
of Le Garrotté (L.D. 21) is as fine as anything Goya did (Plate 80). A most 
original composition in aquatint is the “* Waterfall ” (L.D. 23), and equally 
so the set of “‘ Prisoner ”’ plates (L.D. 31-34), three of a man and one of 

1T do not know whether M. Delteil considers all these works chronologically 
placed, as several previous cataloguers have put them at the end instead of the 
beginning. 

242 


Seine entices aitnnaiararemcintinmeminns 


Poteet nseoncenaten acter een nen 














Plate 80 
m : GAROTTED. Goya. 


THE TREATMENT OF THE BACKGROUND PARTICULARLY SHOWS TIEPOLO INFLUENCE, BUT HOW MUCH 
GREATER IS THE DRAUGHTSMANSHIP &> IMAGINATION } 


From a proof in the British Museum, 


243 





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Etching < Aquatint. 74x 5}. 
Plate 81 


LOVE & DEATH. Goya. 


THERE IS HERE CONSIDERABLE LINE WORK UNDER THE SIMPLE, FLAT MASSES OF TONE. NOTE THE 
ABSENCE OF UNESSENTIALS. é 





From a proof in the British Museum. 


244 





Sst 











Etching & Aquatint. Plate 74X543. 53x47, Etched Surface. 
Plate 82 
SELF PORTRAIT. Goya. 


A MAGNIFICENT EXAMPLE OF INCISIVE DRAUGHTSMANSHIP, 


from a proof in the British Museum, 


245 


246 GOYA, 1746-1828 


a woman. Last is the powerful “ Colossus ” (L.D. 35), one of the most 
successful of all his plates, and in it Goya used scraped aquatint. 

The majority of critics seem to have passed over these works as of little 
importance, but I cannot at all agree with them. 

Next comes the amazing series of biting satires upon the social decadence 
of the Spanish life of his time : Los Caprichos. 

Los Caprichos.—Goya had become official Court-painter by this time— 
they were produced between 1793 and 1798—and so had ample oppor- 
tunity for observation. These prints—some in pure line, a few in pure 
aquatint ; but most in a combination of the two—are of great significance 
in the history of the bitten plate. It is impossible to name even the 
majority of fine plates of this series, but a few of the very best are El amor 
y la muerte, L.D. 47 (Love and Death) (Plate 81) ; A caza de dientes, L.D. 49 
(On the hunt for teeth) ; Por que fue sensible, L.D. 69 (Because she was 
frail, or Because she was sensitive; the meaning is very ambiguous) ; 
and Mala Noche, L.D.73 (A dirty night). The original drawing repro- 
duced by M. Delteil for Por que fue sensible seems finer and far more 
subtle—in fact, sensible in its literal sense—than the plate. In this work 
there is no line-work at all. The combination of tone with etching was 
not new—it had been experimented with as far back as Claude—but a 
satisfactory ground had only recently been invented,! and Goya’s whole 
outlook, as well as his treatment, was absolutely his own, and has had 
some—will, I think, have far more—influence upon the art of succeeding 
schools. 

Self Portrait.—One of the most important plates of all is the frontis- 
piece of the Caprichos : the portrait of the artist himself in a tall hat 
(Plate 82). It is a most memorable work, and I am not sure that it is not 
the finest individual plate of the whole eighty. Perhaps not, but it is 
a relief to come upon an actual fact imaginatively rendered—a portrait— 
though the basic ideas behind the others are (unfortunately) just as factual. 

Los Desastres de la Guerra.—Next—begun in 1810 or thereabouts— 
comes that truly terrible series illustrative of the most disgusting episodes 
of war-time: “ The Disasters of War.’’ They are, in my estimation, the 
high-water mark of Goya’s dramatic draughtsmanship, especially when 
seen—as, alas ! few of us will be able to see them—in their early states, 
as reproduced in the catalogue. 

So far as I know, nothing approaching them in sheer, undiluted horror 
has ever been done on copper. And, in spite of this, the compositions are 
artistically vital. Some of these plates make one almost physically sick, 
so intensely are they visualized: quite unlike the broad generalizations 
of the previous set. 

The first plate of all—a kind of frontispiece—is one of the very finest : 
Tristes Presentimientos, etc. (L.D. 120). The title may be very freely 
translated as “ The shadow of coming events.” So tragic is the expres- 


1 By Le Prince in the latter half of the eighteenth century. This is, I believe, 
disputed, 


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248 


GOYA, 1746-1828 249 


sion of the solitary kneeling figure that it might well be called the ‘““Agony 
in the Garden ”’ (Plate 88). 

To mention a few others of the best in a series where nearly all are good ; 
none uninteresting: Las Mugeres dan Valor, L.D.123 (Plate 84) (The 
women encourage . . .); Duro es el Paso, L.D. 133 (Hard is the Way) ; 
Y no hav Remedio, L.D. 134 (And there is no help, or There is no more 
to be done); Enterrar y Callar, L.D. 187 (Bury them and be silent) ; 
Al Cementerio and De que sirve una Taza (Of what use one cup 2) (Plates 
85 and 86). What amazing compositions of tumbled bodies in poses of 
agony, despair, fear and death ! 

Nothing that the last war has caused to be produced has come within 
measurable distance of these things, with the possible exception of Percy 
Smith’s “ Dance of Death,” and even these lack the wonderful draughts- 
manship of Goya. 

The sixty-five plates were created while the Peninsular War was still 
fresh in the artist’s memory, and they remain—probably will continue to 
do so—the most trenchant commentary on the bestiality and hideousness 
of warfare, when lust and cruelty are released from the restraint imposed 
in normal times. 

The remaining seventeen of the eighty-two plates are, as M. Delteil 
points out, a return to the style of the Caprichos. 

Los Disparates.—The eighteen “‘Absurdities ’’ which follow are not of 
any great merit. They have been generally and wrongly entitled 
“Proverbs,” and, according to Mr. Hind, Goya called them Suenos 
(dreams), but he gives us no text. 

Suggestions as to the date of this series, by different cataloguers, have 
covered a period of nine years, 1810-1819 ; but nothing is certainly known 
on the subject. Only one of the set approaches the quality of dramatic 
draughtsmanship sustained so well in the “ Disasters.’’ This is the sixth : 
Disparate Furvoso (L.D. 207), which in its first (pure line) state illustrated 
in the catalogue, shows Goya at his very best. It might indeed have be- 
longed to the previous series, as there is none of that fantastic exaggeration 
characteristic of the “Absurdities.”’ 

Tauromaquia.—Goya’s last set of aquatints is the Tauromaquia (* Bull 
fighting ’’), which was executed—at least, several plates are so dated—in 
1815 and at first comprised thirty-three plates. It is quite possible that 
the Disparates were contemporary with, or even later than, this series ; 
but, in any case, there is a very great falling off in power, both of observa- 
tion and draughtsmanship, in some of these dramatic incidents in the 
“sport ”’ of his country. 

The drawing of both horses and bulls in many of the plates is positively 
feeble—No. 13 (L.D. 236) being unrecognizable as Goya in this respect— 
while it is significant that the original drawings are (in all cases illustrated) 
incomparably finer. I imagine that the drawings had been done, in many 
cases, earlier. This is particularly noticeable in No. 32 (L.D. 255), where 
the drawing shows the artist at his very best in composition, perspective 





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252 GOYA, 1746-1828 


and sense of action. The shock of bull and horse and the movement of 
the men is amazing. No. 21 (L.D. 244) reaches supreme rank, and it is 
noteworthy because in this splendid plate the scene represented is outside 
the actual arena (Plate 87). It-is called the “‘ Death of the Alcalde,” and 
has the reality of life apart from the unnatural conditions of a theatre. 
In it the bull has apparently leapt the barrier, and the callous spectators 
have for once the knowledge of how death appears at close quarters. The 
drawing of the bull here is that of a real, savage animal which might have 
broken loose from an English meadow ; not that of the semi-heraldic beast 
prancing in the ring, represented in too many of the plates. The last two 
of the series, Nos. 39 and 40 (L.D. 262, 263), and No. 26 (L.D. 249) are 
amongst the really fine plates : very notable for their beautiful arrange- 
ment of light and shade, and perhaps No. 39 is the greatest of all. It is 
peculiarly beautiful in the way in which the lighting is concentrated on 
the drama in the centre of the plate. 

Retirement.—Late in life, having held his Court post (at the expense of 
his loyalty) through the abolition and restoration of the Hapsburg mon- 
archy, Goya received permission to retire to Bordeaux, where he produced 
his last important work—no longer in our present medium—the litho- 
graphs. 

I feel I cannot do better than quote Wedmore again here, and the 
following passage is taken from his graphic picture of Goya’s life in 
“ Etchings ” (p. 121) :— 

‘“‘ Painter of church frescoes, which were fuller than even the religious 
pictures of the Venetians . . . of secular appeal; painter of portraits in 
which something of the grace of Gainsborough seems not incompatible 
with something of the relentless insight of Balzac, the imagination of Goya 
and his unfailing observation, his sense of terror and of comedy, come, 
all together, to the front in his performances upon the copper—in his 
several hundred prints.” 

I have allotted Goya a special chapter because he is, in a way, unique 
and stands outside the main line of the evolution of etching. This is 
partly because his personal ensemble was of the rarest, and few feel impelled 
to express similar ideas in any medium ; and partly because he chose, as 
a means for expressing his intensely passionate denunciations of what he 
felt to be rotten and decadent, a medium which few find sympathetic— 
aquatint. 

More: his actual technique is in itself not at all remarkable. It was 
not of superlative excellence, like that of Rembrandt, which caused crafts- 
men who had nothing to say to emulate it, purely as craftsmanship, so 
keeping it before the artistic world until the next great creator came along 
to use it. He did not leave a tail of little Goyas petering-out down the 
century, as is generally the case with a technical comet of the first 
magnitude. 

There is another reason for his failure to win a wider approval from 
artists and so from the collecting public. It is one of the tragedies of the 


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254 GOYA, 1746-1828 


history of etching that these powerful and original plates should have 
been so mishandled by successive printers ; and, when quite ruined, still 
printed from in such numbers that only exceedingly rarely is a fine 
impression found. 

It has given the average connoisseur a totally wrong conception of the 
quality of the work, and, with the best will in the world, no one can have 
a great affection for an utterly inadequate rendering of an originally fine 
creation. 

Even the modern textbooks reproduce worn-out examples of his fine 
works in which the values have totally changed, and since beginning this 
chapter I have heard that a number of the presumably undestroyed plates 
from Madrid have just been dispersed by their last owner. This means 
that we have not yet seen the final printing from these coppers. 

For all these reasons, Goya has had comparatively little influence upon 
the actual making of bitten plates, though his own art is of such tremen- 
dous importance, and has told in many other ways. 

There has been a notable exception, quite recently, to the general 
avoidance of his special use of the medium (by etchers) in the person of 
Mrs. Laura Knight, whose aquatints, mostly based upon a line foundation, 
are extremely interesting and technically and artistically beautiful. It 
may well be that others will follow her example. 

To see Goya’s work in other mediums one must go to Madrid, and more 
especially to see the studies and drawings without which his etched euvre 
would not have been possible. But one may find many rare proofs in 
the Continental galleries, and, in England, fairly early impressions of the 
published sets in the British Museum, together with some of the drawings. 

The average later state, however, gives one no conception of the rich 
aquatint tonality of the early impressions ; still less of the pure line of the 


trial proofs. 
1 See page 360 for Mrs. Knight’s methods. 


PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART 


THE MAP, dry point by Mary Cassatt 
(American School, 1845-1926). 
Size, 61% x 834 inches. 





g of compensations—of the parts. They were 5 
every gain something is lost. Now this farmer’s son has $20,000 or more 
f Grandma invested in machinery 
orld of free . whose lifetime is not likely 
p deep sense .e] © © Oo © to be more than five years 
endent, au- : before it is turned in for 
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themselves : greatly below the original 
not hate mankind. . 
themselves price. 

families to nptohit ssa ALLE The machinery con- 
ily need. cach : sumes gas and oil, which 
which they © © © © © the farmer cannot grow 
mes, farms but must buy. It produces 
# were their own, and what inadequate natural fertilizer for his need for 
was sufficient for themselves, high field production. This compels him to 
others, and to trade for the purchase commercial fertilizers, a recurrent 
needed. They were almost annual expenditure which, for a 200-acre 
jorced from a money economy _ farm, will easily cost him $1000. He drives the 
land and is, in turn, driven by it, and there are 
, Where I have lived for four champions of organic farming who believe 

pear for nearly a generation, | the land is already taking its revenge. 
molder men and women, who He is controlled by inspectors, who can, 
pr part of their lives just that at any moment, bar his milk from the mar- 
ket: if the cooler is not more than an exact 
m are living on the farms to number of feet from the milk barn, or if the 
nt as brides or grooms thirty _ electricity goes off in the cooler; if the manure 
go. But they are not the same _ is allowed to accumulate more than a certain 
fe they surrounded by other length of time—and what does one do 
old neighbors. One of them if it is impossible, because of weather, to 
led that when she married spread it on the fields? The milk will not 
ars ago, the farming commu- _ be accepted in any case if the bacteria count 
bad-connected hills where her fails to meet requirements, so he wonde 














CHAPTER XXIII 
BRITISH ETCHERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 


I HAVE already spoken of the beginnings of etching in England and 
Scotland in the eighteenth century ; and though the great work in both 
countries was not produced till the beginning of the nineteenth, nearly 
all the men whom we now have to consider were born in the preceding 
century. 

In both countries the artists who made their mark in the medium were 
better known as painters. Geddes, Dyce and Wilkie as portrait and genre 
painters ; and the three great Englishmen as landscapists. 

Turner (1775-1851).—The first of these is J. M. W. Turner, who was 
already working upon the copper in 1807. Most of his etchings were in 
more or less severe outline intended as the basis of full-tone plates carried 
further with either aquatint or mezzotint ; but it is in these rare early 
states, showing the line only (Plate 88), that one can study his extra- 
ordinary mastery over form and composition. 

In a few cases Turner completed the tonal work with his own hand 
(Plate 89), but in the majority of the series—the wonderful Liber Studiorum 
—the work was delegated to one of the expert engravers of his time. 

Of the hundred subjects originally designed by him to form the set, 
only seventy were issued in his lifetime ; some twenty more being com- 
pleted wholly or in part; while some (if not all) of the remainder were 
engraved—in one or two cases the work was actually drawn upon the 
ground by Turner, though unbitten—by Sir Frank Short, several genera- 
tions later. 

Crome (1768-1821).—John Crome, of Norwich, was the first Englishman 
of note—excepting Gainsborough—to take up etching (both ordinary and 
soft-ground) for its own sake. His plates in both mediums—there are not 
many altogether—show him to have had a real understanding of their 
peculiar qualities, and very considerable technical grasp. Many of the 
coppers were entirely ruined by some hack re-working his delicate, free 
lines with mechanical “‘improvements,”’ after the death of the artist, and, 
as they were reissued in that state, the student should be careful to study 
the early impressions left by Crome himself. Unfortunately these are 
scarce. 

““Mousehold Heath,” which, in my opinion, is by far the finest of his 
pure etchings, is a typical case. In its second state (as completed by 
Crome) it is magnificent (Plate 90); in its last (fourth) state it is worth- 
less. The whole sky was changed and machine-ruled ! In its fine state 
this plate shows the spirit of true landscape-etching in a way that none 
of the Dutchmen could equal, with the exception of Rembrandt, 

255 


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258 


BRITISH ETCHERS OF NINETEENTH CENTURY 259 


Crome used soft-ground considerably, and with some success, in his 
studies of trees, etc., and his plates, numbering less than fifty, were 
executed between 1809 and 1813; that is to say, towards the end of his 
life. For this reason I have placed him after Turner, whose early work 
preceded his by two years. 

Cotman (1782-1842).—John Sell Cotman, whose magnificent pictures in 
oil and water-colour have hardly yet received their full recognition at the 
hands of the public, confined his work on the copper very largely to soft- 
ground etching (Plate 91). He was by far the most prolific of the earlier 
men. The prints are a pure delight in their sure draughtsmanship, and 
are perfectly controlled technically, as was to be expected from an artist 
of such genius who practised so extensively in the medium. The bulk of 
these beautiful plates were published in book form under the title of 
Inber Studiorum, a volume of which may be picked up occasionally for 
quite a moderate sum, and should be well worth buying for the sake 
of study. 

It is hardly to be wondered at that Cotman’s prints, so seldom seen, 
should be still unknown to the majority, seeing that it is only recently 
that he has received anything approaching his due in the appreciation of 
his pictures. 

Geddes (1783-1844).— We now come to a man, little known until recent 
times outside Scotland! (and not even yet known to the public), whose 
few plates showed a remarkable understanding of all the mediums 
except soft-ground; an altogether extraordinary command of drypoint in 
particular, and an appreciation of its peculiar qualities second to no one 
save Rembrandt, upon whom he founded his technique—Andrew Geddes. 
He was completely master of the technique of etching, also, though 
rarely using it entirely alone. 

Geddes in his own time was overshadowed by the extreme virtuosity 
of Raeburn, but in the opinion of many most competent to judge he was 
a painter of far deeper insight into character than the popular man of the 
day, and with a less showy but more subtle power of modelling. This 
same quality shows throughout his plates. The methods he employed 
varied with almost every one: he was ever experimenting and copying 
prints or pictures of the masters, including Rembrandt and Van Dyck. 

The most important of his plates—I think all will agree—is that of his 
mother, after the painting in the Scottish National Gallery (Plate 92). It 
is a wonderful study, full of intimate draughtsmanship and appreciation 
of character, in which respects one may say that Geddes stood in relation 
to Raeburn in precisely the position occupied by Rembrandt relative to 
Van Dyck. The technical procedure in this plate was as follows: begun 
in drypoint ; continued in mezzotint ; and completed with etching, the 
graver and more drypoint. It is certainly by no means a pure drypoint. 
There is evidence of foul-biting all over the plate, and the background is 
obviously more than half bitten-line, as well as much of the dress. 


1 Although he lived a great deal in London, 


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‘NOISHC NI SSUNOIA -—D ONINUOM 4O WOGAAUA S,NVWLOD JO ‘IVOIMAL SI ALVId WILLIT SIHJ, 


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260 











Drypoint & Mezzo, rocker. 64x4} Etched Surface. (Final St.) 
Plate 92 


THE ARTIST’S MOTHER. GEDDES. 


SECOND STATE. 


IN THIS EARLY PROOF THE MARGIN IS MASKED. DRESS Gy HAND AFTERWARDS ADDED G COMPLETED 
WITH DRYPOINT, ETCHING & GRAVER. THE ROCKER WORK IS PLAINLY SEEN IN THE VEIL. 


From @ proof in the collection of R. K. Blair, Esq. 


261 





jevbot estate 


Etching, Drypoint G Graver-work. BEB X5hR. 
Plate 93 


INFANTA ISABELLA. GEDDEs. 


AFTER VAN DYCK. 
THE METHODS EMPLOYED IN THIS BEAUTIFUL HEAD ARE VERY HARD TO IDENTIFY (SEE TEXT). 
From a proof printed by the author & in his“own collection. 


262 


BRITISH ETCHERS OF NINETEENTH CENTURY 263 


Ihave examined carefully (and printed from) some half-dozen of Geddes’s 
plates (including the “‘ Mother’’), and it is extremely difficult, even with the 
aid of a low-power microscope, to determine with which medium many of 
the lines were wrought. The plate—again after one of his own paintings 
—of a youth named Henry Broadwood in fancy dress is one of the few 
pure drypoints. It is a most delicate and expressive piece of drawing.! 

The head entitled “‘ Infanta Isabella,” after Van Dyck (Plate 98), is an 
extraordinary technical performance, and how executed I cannot deter- 
mine precisely. I am of the opinion that it was first drawn very slightly 
in drypoint: the plate then covered with a very thin and broken ground, 
and either this allowed Geddes to use foul-biting on purpose for medelling 
the face, or the acid broke through by accident and was then controlled 
by painting out the lights with varnish. Whichever it was, it is pretty 
evident that he first went over a large part of the face with the point of 
the needle and bit-in this stippled work. It is quite likely that foul-biting 
began while he was etching this dot-work, and the artist recognized that 
it would combine effectively with the latter. That it was not entirely 
intentional, as in aquatint proper, is also obvious from the fact that the 
bitten tone extends beyond the head on to the unworked background. 
The deeper strokes suggest the burin. It is, in any case, a most interest- 
ing, subtle and beautiful piece of modelling.? 

To the student another equally interesting plate is “ Dull Reading ”’ 
(Plate 94), which anticipates Whistler’s “‘ Music Room.” It is practically 
pure etching, but the surface has been roughened in some way in order 
to throw up the lights on the woman’s face and collar of the man. I used 
to think this was a matter of printing, as in the Whistler, but, after com- 
paring different impressions, I am sure that a definite tone was bitten on 
the copper. It is probably spirit-ground aquatint, as one can see but 
little granulation. However executed, the contrasts were shockingly over- 
done ; but it is none the less instructive to see Geddes trying these tricks 
of reinforcement of the etched line. 

‘ Peckham Rye ” is one of his simple and quite beautiful drypoint land- 
scapes, but even in this case the love of experiment shows itself to the 
detriment of the later states, where an entirely foreign medium—aquatint 
—is introduced in the sky. The early proofs before this was added are 
far finer. There is a state (unknown to Mr. Dodgson) in which this 
aquatint was lightly etched, and this is particularly beautiful. 

The “ Halliford on Thames’! is a completely successful etching antici- 
pating Haden; while the “‘ View on the Thames,” of which I have only 
seen the reproduction in Laing’s publication (No. 38)—presumably the 
plate was destroyed or lost—is a very fine drypoint, done under the 
Rembrandt influence.2 The little still-life of a bronze boy holding up a 


1 The plate is in my possession. 

2 Mr. Dodgson tells me that this plate is almost certainly not by Geddes but by 
Burnett (1784-1868), as a proof has recently been discovered in a collection of the 
Jatter’s work. 





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264 





Kitching & Drypoint. Plate 8ix6}. Etched Surface 64x5}. 
Plate 95 
ARCHIBALD SKIRVING, ESQ. GEDDEs. 


ONE OF THE ARTIST’S MOST BEAUTIFUL PORTRAITS. THE DELICACY OF MODELLING IN THE FACE HAS SUFFERED IN 
REPRODUCTION, BUT THE BRILLIANT LIGHTING REMAINS. THERE IS DRYPOINT IN THE RICH BLACKS OF THE COAT. 


From a proof in the collection of the author. 


266 BRITISH ETCHERS OF NINETEENTH CENTURY 


watch is a curious mixture of very deep etching and drypoint. The chain 
and seals hanging from the watch are purely bitten and very heavily ; 
while the modelling of the figure is close drypoint. In the present state 
of the plate the burr has disappeared from this, and the contrast is very 
marked. 

One of his very finest plates—etching with a little added drypoint—is 
the “ Archibald Skirving ” (Plate 95). 

Geddes was emphatically a pioneer—though not one of the first in Scot- 
land, as I have shown in Chapter XI X—and a great experimenter. Just 
as his (and Dyce’s) portraits anticipated Whistler, his landscapes anticipate 
Legros and Haden, and in the use of drypoint he is the artistic progenitor 
of Bone. 

Wilkie (1785-1841).—Of Sir David Wilkie there is much less to be said. 
He used (with some skill) both etching and drypoint, but his fame rests 
principally upon one plate: the “ Receipt” or “ Man at a Bureau ”—it 
has various titles—which is, I believe, pure drypoint. I once found that 
one of his little etchings was executed upon the back of his own visiting- 
card plate. Wilkie is not one of the interesting etchers. 

Dyce (1806-1864).— William Dyce, on the other hand, was a real artist 
of the copper, and so far I have never seen his name mentioned in a 
textbook. He did a number of illustrations for books or magazines in 
the medium, and very good they are. I think Sir George Reid must have 
founded his style of pen illustration upon these. In the Scottish National 
Gallery hang two of his works (other than illustration) which are extremely 
fine. One—a girl seated at a window holding a flower—is pure etching, 
and might be mistaken for a Chas. Keene or even a Whistler. The other 
is pure drypoint of even finer quality. It is called “The Young 
Angler ” (Plate 96), and is a most charming piece of drawing, with rich 
burr on the free line-work and is dated 1834, i.e. the year of Whistler’s 
birth ! 

Another plate, of which I have only seen a very poor proof, is a “‘ Holy 
Family.” The drawing of the nude Infant, over whom the mother is 
stooping, 1s superb ; and the relations of woman, child and father in the 
background are perfect. 

A fourth plate is a portrait (on a bigger scale than the others) of an 
old woman, reminding one a little of the Rembrandt oil of the London 
National Gallery. Only the face and the gnarled hands below are com- 
pleted, rather tentatively, in the proof I have seen ; but it is quite possible 
that later states exist.1 Altogether Dyce’s etchings are much more inter- 
esting than the one or two paintings known to me. He was a genuine 
etcher: far more so than the better-known Wilkie, and deserves wider 
recognition. 

Girtin (1775-1802) and Bonington (1801-1828).—There are two other 
Englishmen who might have left more important etched work: Girtin, 


1 [ have since seen what I believe is a later state (still unfinished) in the British 
Museum, printed by Muirhead Bone. 


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Relief Etching. 


Plate 97 
AZING INTO SPACE 


WILLIAM BLAKE. 


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Blake. 


by Robert 


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269 


270 BRITISH ETCHERS OF NINETEENTH CENTURY 


who used soft-ground for the same purpose! as Turner etched; and 
Bonington, whose one plate, reproduced in Mr. Salaman’s “‘ The Graphic 
Arts of Great Britain ’’ (1917), is pure line etching, and hardly finished at 
the premature death of the gifted artist. Bonington also used soft-ground 
occasionally. 

Of all these pioneers, however, I think Geddes alone can take permanent 
rank among the greatest etchers (and that in spite of his very limited 
output) by virtue of the great sympathy with, and understanding of, 
humanity which he was able to express in his few plates. 

I would not dispute that several hold a still higher place on the strength 
of their work in other mediums, but here we are dealing only with that 
on the copper. 

A word must be said of two men, both interesting, but neither true 
etchers in the accepted sense of the term. 

Blake (1757-1827).—The first of these is William Blake, who used the 
acid to form his relief blocks (see Chapter XII), but preferred the graver 
for executing his wonderful line plates (Plates 97 and 98). 

Palmer (1805-1881).—Th2 second is Samuel Palmer, who lived entirely 
in the world of the past and yet chose the freer method to create what, 
to me, are essentially fine original engravings. 

Keene (1823-1891).— Neither must one forget that magnificent draughts- 
man, Charles Keene. His prints are very few compared with his drawings, 
but both in figure-subjects and in landscape he showed a genuine feeling 
for the capabilities of the medium. His print of the boats drawn upon a 
beach is exquisite in its line ; and the study of a girl holding a book, in 
the small hat and widely billowing skirt of the period, is a masterpiece 
(Plate 99). Itis also interesting to us technically because Keene—evidently 
for his future guidance—noted the durations of his bitings on the margin 
of the plate: “Ist bite 20 mins.; 2nd bite 15.” His acid cannot have 
been as strong as half-and-half nitric. The rich blacks, the luminosity and 
the poise of the delicate head are beyond praise. 


1 ** Picturesque Views of Paris and its Environs,” 1802. 





Plate 99 


GIRL WITH A BOOK. KEENE, 


THIS BRILLIANT PLATH, WHICH HOLDS ITX OWN IN ANY COMPANY, MAKES ONE WISH THAT THE 
GREAT DRAUGHTSMAN HAD LEFT US MORE ETCHINGS, 


From a proof in the collection of the author. 


271 


CHAPTER XXIV 
MERYON AND THE FRENCH REVIVAL 


Meryon (1821-1868).—At the very time that Geddes was producing his 
few but splendid plates, the year of Crome’s death, when Turner still had 
thirty years of work ahead of him and—how extraordinary it seems !— 
Seymour Haden was already three years old, there was born in a private 
hospital at the Batignolles in Paris the greatest etcher after Rembrandt 
the world had seen. I am not at all sure that it has yet seen a greater. 

Charles Meryon probably stands alone in the history of etching more 
than any other man, with the exception of Goya. 

Artistic Descent.—He made so few tentative efforts before reaching his 
mature style that it is difficult at first to see into what the roots of his 
art were struck; but when the early plates are examined they yield at 
least the secret of his technique, being copies and translations of the works 
of various later Dutchmen—Karel du Jardin, Loutherbourg and particu- 
larly Zeeman, whose etchings of old Paris must have appealed to such a 
lover of the city. 

I have already suggested the influence—possibly through the medium 
of Zeeman—of Callot. I note these points because with Meryon’s great 
plates only before us it appears as if he sprang fully armed from the head 
of Zeus. I need not go into full details of his unhappy life. The greater 
and more widely known the artist, the easier it is for the curious student 
to obtain a biography ; and much has been written concerning Meryon 
of late. It is strange that this man, who we are told felt the stigma of 
illegitimacy very keenly, should have yet taken his English father’s name 
—the accent over the “e”’ was a posthumous addition—but so he did 
upon entering the French navy. 

Influences of Birth.—Sir Frederick Wedmore—to whom Meryon owes 
much for the recognition of his genius—thought that from his mother, a 
Parisian danseuse, the artist received his passionate nature, while his 
romanticism descended from his father, but this is pure supposition, though 
interesting. Probably the tendency towards madness which ended his own 
life so disastrously was inherited from his French parent, who herself died 
insane. But it must be insisted upon that the dozen or so plates upon 
which Meryon’s fame rests were executed when their author was as sane 
as Bracquemond or any other of his friends. 

Madness cannot produce great art ; though the temperament which is 
capable of producing it may tend, unless carefully held in check, to the 
production of madness also. 

The few cases in which this has actually occurred have been so dwelt 


272 

























































































Etching. 10} x 74. 
Plate 100 


LE PETIT PONT. MeERyown. 


ONE OF THE MOST SATISFYINGLY COMPLETE & MONUMENTAL PLATES EVER PRODUCED. IT WAS THE FIRST 
OF MERYON’S GREAT SERIES. 


From a proof in the Victoria & Albcri Museum, 


s 273 


274 MERYON AND THE FRENCH REVIVAL 


upon by writers, that the public commonly holds, nowadays, that to be 
really great an artist must also be mad. There is no greater fallacy. 

Schumann’s case is a very close parallel to that of Meryon. But were 
Beethoven, Bach, Brahms or Wagner even approaching madness ? Were 
Shakespeare, Milton or Goethe ; Rembrandt, Diirer or Goya ? 

The very fact that so little concerning our greatest dramatist has come 
down to us is proof of his normality—in other words, of his “ sanity ”— 
because it caused no remark amongst his contemporaries. Let us believe 
that Meryon therefore did his great work in spite of, not because of, his 
madness. 

Naval Career.—About the time his mother died he entered the Naval 
College at Brest, going to sea two years later (in 1839). After several 
voyages, including a visit to the South Sea Islands, he abandoned the Navy 
in 1846 in order to become an artist. Upon realizing that he was colour- 
blind—this does not imply any lack of ability to distinguish the most 
subtle relations of tone; rather the reverse—Meryon was forced back 
upon black-and-white, and began to study and copy the men referred to 
above. He was for six months a pupil of Eugéne Bleéry. 

First Etching.—Mr. Dodgson, in “The Etchings of Charles Meryon ” 
(1921), says that the first etching was a head of Christ founded upon a 
miniature of P. de Champagne, but only one impression is known. 

In 1850 his first masterpiece was produced, Le Petit Pont (Plate 100), and 
with the possible exception of Za Morgue and La Galerie, nothing he did 
later, in my opinion, surpassed it. 

His Methods.—There is a certain amount of conflicting evidence con- 
cerning Meryon’s actual methods of working. Mr. Hamerton, who, if he 
did not know the man himself, must have gathered information from 
Meryon’s friends who watched him, says, definitely, that he worked from 
nature with a mirror, “laying ”’ his lines with astonishing certainty. Mr. 
Pennell, in his attempts to belittle Meryon because Whistler did not care 
for his work, scoffs at this for some reason known only to himself. But it 
is not at all an unlikely story. He also affirms that Meryon was no artist 
because he did not make a sufficient number of mistakes ! 

“And in this plate (Za Morgue) there are no mistakes, erasures, foul- 
biting, none of those qualities found in all spontaneous, vital etching— 
Meryon is perfunctory, perfect, pathetic.’ 

Compare this with Meryon’s own letter to Jules Andrieu: “‘ For often 
I must patch my plate so much that I am more Tinker than Etcher.’’? 

It shows Meryon’s amazing mastery over his medium that he could 
produce a plate which appears as if there had been no mistakes to Mr. 
Pennell, in spite of his patching. In fact, he did to perfection that which 
Whistler proclaimed all through his life to be the greatest technical 
achievement possible: he concealed the art which produced Art. 

Against the theory that Meryon worked directly upon the plate we have 


1 “ Ktchers and Etching,” p. 40. 
2 “ Ktchings,”’ by Sir Fred. Wedmore, p. 44. 


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275 


276 MERYON AND THE FRENCH REVIVAL 


the evidence of the original drawings. In all probability he made use of 
both methods, the drawings being supplemented by additional final work 
from nature. Or both methods may have been employed, but on different 
plates : why not ? 

To quote from Mr. Dodgson, who, unfortunately, gives us no authority : 
. . . Meryon seldom made a complete drawing on the spot. He would 
go every day at the same hour and make minutely finished studies of 
details on small bits of paper, which he either stuck together or made 
another drawing from them.’’4 

Mr. Dodgson also adds that Meryon began his drawings of both archi- 
tecture and figures at the grownd and worked upwards. This, though a 
mere personal fad, was logical enough, and, I believe, the same was said 
of Blake, who had much of Meryon’s abnormality. 

Le Petit Pont (Plate 100) was a compilation from two different points 
of view, and is interesting in that respect as showing that Meryon fully 
realized that art was not a mere copying of nature. 

Among moderns who have both achieved fine results from similar 
“liberties ”? with topography one may cite Bone’s ‘“‘ South Coast, No. 2,” 
and McBey’s “Lion Brewery.” I believe Whistler did the same thing 
in the “‘ Long Venice,”’ but I do not personally know that city. 

The brilliance, strength and dignity of Meryon’s first great plate— 
doubly wonderful when one remembers that he was the pioneer in treating 
architecture in such a manner: a manner which suggests the very soul 
of a building—have rarely, if ever, been equalled even by the splendid 
draughtsmen who have founded themselves upon their great forerunner. 

Following this noble plate came, in quick succession, Le Tour del’ Horloge, 
equally brilliant but less finely composed, and La Pompe Notre Dame, in 
which Meryon, using his first scaffolding motif, showed the way to Bone 
and the rest of us who have, and will continue to, come after. Last, but 
by far the finest of this year (1852), was the exquisite Saint Etienne du 
Mont, the church near which the artist must have lived. 

In 1853 appeared Le Stryge, a subject which has also been plagiarized 
ad nauseam, but in one instance forgivably: that of Cameron’s “ Chimera 
of Amiens,” a plate which is, I think, more perfect than its prototype, 
though lacking the mystery of the latter. In the same year were also 
Le Pont Neuf, a very beautiful study of light falling athwart the old piers 
of the bridge, and L’ Arche du Pont Notre Dame (Plate 101), one of the 
most perfect plates when seen in an early state. But this reservation 
applies to most “‘ Meryons.” 

Finally, the plate which no one can see, surely, without a thrill of pure 
joy, La Galerie Notre Dame (Plate 102). This, we hear, was Victor Hugo’s 
favourite, and I do not wonder at it. 

The next year—only four from his beginning !—brought Meryon to his 
climax. 'In it came La Rue des Mauvais Garcons : again a prototype for 
countless etchings ; L’ Abside de Notre Dame, a wonderful presentment of 

1 “ The Etchings of Charles Meryon,” 1921], p. 6. 


ce 








Plate 102 
LA GALERIE. MeEryon. 


ONE OF THE MOST PERFECT ACHIEVEMENTS IN ETCHING 
From a proof in the Victoria & Albert Museum, 


278 MERYON AND THE FRENCH REVIVAL 


the great cathedral, but marred by the sky; and La Morgue, which 
epitomizes the whole outlook of the artist’s life (Plate 108). It is a work 
which, in my judgment, approaches as nearly to perfection as is possible. 
LD’ Abside was, I believe, the later plate, and both Sir Frederick! and Mr. 
Dodgson? acclaim it as the finest of all the “‘ Meryons.”’ 

Mr. Dodgson has even departed from his custom of ignoring the com- 
mercial side of collecting, and by doing so somewhat weakens the value 
of his praise: “‘ Then follows L’ Abside, the justly famous masterpiece for 
which higher sums are paid to-day than for any other etching except some 
of Rembrandt’s.”” We all know how little current prices may have to do 
with merit. 

Personally I find that the band of clouds which passes across the whole 
length of the sky are not only badly drawn and bitten, but ruin the whole 
arrangement of the plate by carrying the eye along the top of the com- 
position instead of allowing it to sweep down from the towers of the 
cathedral to the bridge below and the distant buildings beyond it. How- 
ever fine the rest of the etching, if this criticism be admitted, one cannot 
call the plate a perfect work. Whether there is a trial proof without the 
clouds, as I strongly suspect—these being an obviously right attempt to 
break the unfortunate contour of the houses beyond the bridge—I have 
not discovered ; but it should be very wonderful. 

Another reason for my special preference for La Morgue is that it seems 
most typical of Meryon’s personality. It sums up what was begun in 
Le Petit Pont and continued in La Galerie. It is indeed one of the most 
perfect pieces of self-expression in the world of Art. 

There are three more plates which I wish to mention, not because they 
are in any way equal to the greatest, but because they are interesting to 
the student. First: the apparently strong Italian influence shown in a 
plate of the very same year as those last discussed, 1854: L’ Entrée du 
Couvent des Capucins a Athénes, but which must have been etched from 
an early drawing. Second: the particularly beautiful Tourelle de la rue 
de l’ Ecole-de-M édecine, the sky of which, in the early states, shows how 
delicately Meryon could etch clouds. 

His Power of Portraiture.—Last of all: the great power of expressing 
individual human character demonstrated by the portrait of 1861—the 
date also of La Tourelle—L. J-Marie Bizeul being the sitter’s name 
(Plate 104). It may not be an original work, but is none the less fine. 

Death.—Both these plates show how far from mad the artist was during 
the period between his two confinements in the asylum, i.e. between 1859- 
1866. There—at Charenton—he died. 

His Printing and Legacy to Whistler——Meryon was one of the first— 
perhaps the first—to make use of variously tinted papers to aid the 
impression he wished to convey in any particular plate ; and his practice 
has been followed by most of the moderns. 

His printing (or Delatre’s, who must have been kept in check by 


1 « Ktchings,” p. 42, where the dates vary from Mr. Dodgson’s. 
2 “The Etchings of Charles Meryon,”’ p. 18. 





Plate 103 


LA MORGUE. MeEryon. 


IN MOST WAYS THE ARTISI’S SUPREME EXPRESSION OF HIS ATTITUDE TOWARDS LIFE. NOTE THE CALLOTESQUE 
FIGURES DERIVED THROUGH ZEEMAN GY THE ASTONISHING SOLIDITY “> DIGNITY OF THE BUILDINGS. 


From a proof in the Victoria & Albert Museum. 


279 





Baers 
(weeeemes 





Etching @& Graver. 


ima an - 64x45. Etched Surface 4th x4gee 
Plate 104 


L. J-MARIE BIZEUL. Meryon. 


THIS PLATE, 80 SEARCHING > MATTER-OF-FACT “> SHOWING SUCH A GRASP OF CHARACTER, WAS EXECUTED BETWEEN 
THE ARTIST'S FIRST FINAL CONFINEMENTS IN THE ASYLUM. 'THERE IS CONSIDERABLE BURIN WORK IN THE COAT, 


From a proof in the British Muscum. 


280 


MERYON AND THE FRENCH REVIVAL 281 


him)! was very simple and fairly clean in wiping, though quite a heavy tone 
is left on the surface very frequently. This was probably the result of using 
a very thin (perhaps unburnt) oil. Such an oil, we know, was employed 
by Delatre, long after, when printing with Whistler. Hence we find that 
Whistler owed the delicacy of his printing directly to Meryon, whom he 
affected to despise ! 

Of Meryon’s three great contemporaries—Jacque, Bracquemond and 
Legros—who all contributed to the French revival, Legros, I think, stands 
easily first, though Jacque was the pioneer and, in that sense, equally 
important in history. 

Jacque (1813-1894).—Charles Jacque did some remarkably fine work 
and, though never attaining to the heights reached by Legros, must have 
the honour of being the first Frenchman of importance (who lived and 
worked in France) to take up etching and drypoint seriously. Many of 
the most beautiful plates of bis large output are scarce and seldom seen, 
having been printed in very small editions, and justice has hardly been 
done him; perhaps for that reason. Many of the plates are common 
enough, but they are mostly late and not usually good ones. He was a 
magnificent draughtsman of animals, and apparently much influenced by 
Rembrandt’s night pieces. His own are full of feeling and observation, 
and the forerunners of Clausen’s similar plates. 

A very beautiful example of this manner is Le moulin, with its tenderly 
luminous sky (Plate 105). This sky is largely “ printing ’* and, of course, 
impressions may vary enormously ; but a proof to which one may refer 
is in the Scottish National Gallery, though the impression here illustrated 
is far richer. The early states of some of the drypoints are very much 
simpler and better than the later, but much rarer. 

One of his most perfect interior studies of sheep in a barn is the Intérieur 
de Bergerie (1st state, B 447). How big and luminous also is La Vachere. 
Both are drypoints. It is interesting to find Jacque deliberately lifting 
the composition of one of his cattle pieces from Claude. Hence we have 
the Rembrandt and Claude schools united in him. We must remember 
that Jacque’s original plates began at least a decade before Meryon’s 
Petit Pont, and one of the best I know—a little etching—is dated 1840. 
Jacque undoubtedly influenced the young Whistler enormously, to say 
nothing of J. F. Millet, Legros and others. 

Bracquemond (1833-1919).—The most memorable plate of Félix Brac- 
quemond’s is, I think, his portrait of Meryon (1853) (Plate 106). It is 
modelled rather upon the lines of Van Dyck than of Rembrandt, but with 
a more intimate understanding of the character of his sitter. There is in 
the face an almost furtive expression as if Meryon were upon the point 
of rushing away like a suspicious savage who had first met a white man. 
Very expressive is the drawing of the hands—without which no portrait 


1 Hamerton informs us (“‘ Etching and Etchers,” Ist ed.) that Delatre could 
hardly print simply if he tried ! 
2 There is a considerable amount of mezzotint in many of these dark plates. 











Drypoint & Mezzotint. 4y's X3}3. 
Plate 105 


LE MOULIN. Jacque. 


THE TYPE OF PLATE IN WHICH JACQUE, FOLLOWING REMBRANDT, SAID SOMETHING NEW. NOTE THE EXTREME 
BEAUTY OF DESIGN 








From a proof in the collection of E. R. Boase, Esq 


282 








Plate 106 


PORTRAIT OF MERYON. BRAcCQUEMOND. 


APART FROM ITS VALUE AS A RECORD, THIS PILATE IS NOTEWORTHY FOR ITS FIRM ¢& DIRECT 
USE OF THE NEEDLE. 





From a proof in the collection of Campbell Dodgson, Esq., C.B.E. 


283 


284 MERYON AND THE FRENCH REVIVAL 


is really complete—though their tranquillity contradicts the tenseness of 
the face. Bracquemond’s portrait of his other great contemporary is 
almost as fine. Here is Legros the visionary ; but again the quality of 
shyness is so noticeable that one wonders whether his sitters shared it 
equally, or whether it emanated from the etcher himself. His studies of 
birds are technically perfect, but such plates as Le haut d’un battant de porte 
—beloved of Wedmore—leave me entirely cold. On the other hand, 
Le vieux cog (of the later manner) is a creation, and has been both father 
and mother of countless modern works. 

Legros (1880-1911).—Alphonse Legros began etching in his teens—at 
least as early as 1855—just when Meryon had finished the series of plates 
upon which his fame rests. There is nothing more interesting and curious 
than the manner in which the art, having taken a fresh lease of life in 
Scotland, suddenly came to perfect maturity in France through the 
medium of a man who was half English and half French, and then 
returned to this country, reintroduced by a Frenchman, Legros, and an 
American of Anglo-Scottish descent, Whistler. 

Although Legros worked and lived in London, never for a moment was 
he anything but French. In actual technique he was extraordinarily 
limited, considering the huge extent of his output—about 700 plates, I 
believe—and yet he expressed himself with that simple, mannered, 
diagonal shading (suggesting the earliest Italian engraving) in a wide 
range of subjects and with deep humanity. 

In the course of his long life he naturally produced very many indifferent 
plates, and many of these, instead of being destroyed, were published in 
huge editions and poorly printed. 

It is such impressions—seen in every print-seller’s and auction room— 
which have been responsible for the low estimation in which their author 
has been held by the average collector and artist. 

They are bad plates, often printed long after what burr there may have 
been had disappeared, and it is a thousand pities that Legros or his 
publishers issued them to damage the reputation of one of the noblest 
etchers of the century. 

Legros’s temperament, like his technique, restricted him to the pro- 
duction of a certain class of work, and that only. He could never unbend 
and express the sheer joy of living as could Rembrandt. His outlook was 
often sombre ; always dignified and quiet ; never gay. 

In such portraits as that of the ‘‘ Sculptor Dalou ” (Plate 107) he rose 
to a height of serene perfection ; not in such as the “ Watts,” which is 
feeble in every way. Again, in the studies of pollard-trees lining the banks 
of a river (Plate 108) his one method of drawing on the copper—the short 
diagonal stroke—suited his subjects perfectly and they are most masterly 
in design and luminosity ; while in what Wedmore describes as Legros’s 
“leaning towards the theme of the human derelict’ the artist was 
expressing himself with full conviction, e.g. “‘ Death and the Woodcutter.”’ 

Legros, whose manner of expression was so personal, and never varied 


Etching. 


THis IS ONE OF THE MOST MONUME 
WITH BREADTH OF MODELLING. 











’ = 


8} ie) Etched Surkice 
Plate 107 


PORTRAIT OF DALOU. LEGROS. 


NTAL OF THE ARTIST’S PORTRAITS. Iv COMBINES SEARCHING CHARACTERIZATION 
Note THE TYPICAL RAG-WIPED QUALITY OF THE PRINTING (GOULDING’S). 


From a proof in the collection of the author. 


285 


286 MERYON AND THE FRENCH REVIVAL 


in accordance with the requirements of his subject, as that of the greatest 
masters has always done—Rembrandt, Meryon, Hokusai, Turner, for 
instance—had the usual effect that such men have upon their pupils. 
Hither these broke away altogether, or slavishly followed his mannerisms 
and failed. 

To make my meaning clearer I will analyse that much-illustrated plate 
Le mur du Presbytére. The composition is simple and very dignified in 
its big masses of tower and trees against the blank sky ; the suggestion 
of resting horses perfect as far as it goes. Yet the wide, coarse, diagonal 
shading upon the wall behind the horses is so obvious—so unlike tone, 
yet equally ignoring the texture of the surface, whether stone or brick 
one cannot tell—that the eye is inevitably drawn to these drypoint strokes 
at the expense of the animals in front. 

Its result is to make the nearer horse’s head appear part of the wall. 
It is transparent and has no reality or solidity. 

Again: even if we grant that it is not of vital importance whether the 
trees look like any particular species, we still have to ask whether this 
same diagonal shading does not prevent them appearing like trees at all. 
We know that they must be trees because they could not be anything else, 
but not because there is any intimate piece of draughtsmanship to tell 
us so. They are like the trees of a scenic background where the instruc- 
tions indicate “‘ Trees here.”’ I am by no means denouncing this method 
in works requiring such treatment, but I do not feel this to .be one of 
them. Legros rightly ignored all matters which seemed irrelevant. But 
he carried this too far when the fact that his horses were not solid and 
his trees not drawn; that his wall could not be seen for the lines com- 
posing it, failed to worry him, so long as his shape was fine, and something 
of the emotion called forth by the spirit of the place was captured. 

And in those things—big things both—he succeeded. On the other 
hand, it so often degenerated into a mere mannerism when this same 
treatment was used to express things which do not lend themselves to 
such a means of expression. 

In studying Legros, therefore, it is necessary to select most rigorously, 
first the plate, and afterwards the impression from that plate. 

Corot (1796-1875) : Millet (1814-1875).—I do not propose to say any- 
thing of the etched work of either Corot or Millet. Etching was not their 
business, and nothing either of them did on the copper in any way added 
new commentary to the truths they expressed in their proper medium. 

Rops (1833-1898).—Although a Belgian, Félicien Rops did much of his 
work in Paris, and his outlook was largely French. He used etching, dry- 
point and soft-ground with equal facility, and his draughtsmanship was 
magnificent. The indecent character of much of his work has banned it 
from this country, but some of his less gross plates are superb. Particu- 
larly fine is the study of a youthful couple embracing in a ploughed field, 
entitled “‘ The End of the Furrow.” It recalls Millet, but without Millet’s 
heaviness of handling and sentimentality. 


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287 


CHAPTER XXV 
HADEN AND WHISTLER 


AND now we come to the two men—brothers in-law, and, at the end, 
totally estranged—who did more than any man, or any group of men, 
towards creating the revival of etching in nineteenth-century Britain which 
is in full force at the present time. 

Haden (1818-1910).—Sir Francis Seymour Haden’s first etchings—six 
Italian subjects executed in 1843—ante-date the Paris-trained American’s 
by more than a decade, but his great work was produced largely under 
the stimulus of the younger man’s example. By this I am not implying 
that Haden in any way imitated either the manner or the subjects of his 
wife’s half-brother: merely that, after the long interval of fifteen years 
he was once more fired by the enthusiasm of the recently arrived American 
to etch ; and in the first year (1858), Hamerton says, he produced nineteen 
plates. Between that year and 1875 practically the whole of his significant 
output was executed. 

His Unique Record.—Haden’s is one of the most curious records of 
history. He was born in 1818. He became a successful surgeon and—his 
tentative early plates apart—did not etch until forty years of age! In 
sixteen or seventeen years he had practically finished his great work, and 
yet he lived almost as long after ceasing as before beginning to work on 
the metal. A man who was born before Meryon and easily outlived 
Whistler ! 

It has been the custom to contrast these men, and, of late, to decry 
Haden’s work as second-rate. I certainly have no intention of following 
that fashion. Both were very great artists, and, of the two, the American 
was infinitely the more versatile ; but to say that therefore the work of 
the one was superior to that of the other is only a futility. 

Both have had vast influence and will continue to have ; but they were 
utterly unlike in the finest work of each; and each had les défauts de ses 
qualités. 

In the few plates in which the older man deliberately competed with 
the younger, he failed; as for instance in Haden’s version of the subject 
—evidently they worked nearly side by side—which Whistler called 
““ Reading by Lamplight,” where the one rendering is expressive, and the 
other merely matter-of-fact and dull. But Haden had no need to com- 
pete with any one. What he had to say was new, and he said it clearly 
and emphatically. His art was essentially that of suggestion—of the 
sketch—except in one or two of his very finest plates, such as “Shere 
Mill Pond” and the “‘ Agamemnon ”’ (Plate 109), and this last is, in my 
opinion, one of the greatest masterpieces of all etching. 


288 


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290 HADEN AND WHISTLER 


The ‘‘ Agamemnon.’’—Here I should like to digress a moment in order 
to warn both the student and the collector against the foolish practice of 
prizing early states, as such. In this case, the last or ‘‘ second published ” 
state is finer than the first published state. The plate was strengthened 
and improved by Haden after a large edition had been issued, yet, merely 
because it is the later issue, it fetches about one-quarter the price, at 
auction, of the first published state. (These two have nothing to do with 
the preliminary trials of which there are several “states.”’) It is just as 
foolish to pay larger sums for proofs which happen to have been signed 
by the artist ; especially prints which date from a time—such as these— 
when the marginal signature was a novelty and not, as it 1s now, con- 
sidered an essential part of the issue. This magnificent plate has an inter- 
esting history and many absurd statements have been made concerning 
it. Not the least absurd is Mr. Pennell’s, where he makes the author of 
the plate tell an obviously ridiculous story! : 

‘““ Apropos, I remember one story he told me in his own house. How 
he went down to Greenwich, one day, to a whitebait dinner . . . and he 
saw the subject, and just went and sat on a pile, and pulled the plate out 
of his dress coat-tail pocket, and etched the ship and forgot the dinner, 
and then came back next day at sunset and put in the background.” 

Then follows the obvious gibe as to the size of the pocket in relation 
to the plate (it measures more than 16 by 74 inches). 

It is sufficiently clear that either Haden had quite forgotten the real 
facts of the case, as an old man will, or, more probably, he was getting 
a little of his own back from one who himself can hardly expect us to 
take his statements too literally. In the same book (p. 4) we find, 
““. . . Great Britain has never produced a supreme etcher, and I do not 
believe ever will; it is not in the nature or temperament of the people ”’ ; 
while on p. 150, “ F. Seymour Haden: ‘Sunset in Ireland’: The most 
poetical drypoint landscape that exists’; and p. 149, “far better than 
any by Rembrandt, far better than any of Whistler’s.’’ Again, in speak- 
ing of the “Agamemnon ”’ (p. 154), “‘. . . the hull is the finest thing in 
line that has ever been done in etching ”’ | 

Without subscribing to any of these rather dogmatic utterances, I think 
that there is little doubt that Haden will go down to posterity as a 
“supreme etcher.”’ 

The real facts concerning the making of Haden’s masterpiece are suffi- 
ciently interesting and instructive to quote. 

Mr. Hamerton, in an article on Haden in “‘ Scribner’s Monthly ”’ (1879, 
p- 582), quotes a letter from the etcher, verbatim, in which the latter says 
that in that year (1870), believing himself to have lost the power of work- 
ing upon the copper in the open air, he made, or tried to make, a free- 
handed drawing of the ““Agamemnon,”’ then breaking up opposite Deptford. 
He offers this plate to Hamerton for the “ Portfolio.” After speaking of 
the difficulties he had experienced in the work, he goes on to say that he 

+ “ Etchers and Etching,” 1920, p. 149, 


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291 


292 HADEN AND WHISTLER 


had thought of making the sun set behind the old hulk and distant Green- 
wich, as typical of the departing glories of both; and that he would try 
to do this if Hamerton would return the plate after using it. He finishes 
by saying that, as for himself, he is old, blind and unhandy! The man 
who had half etched the masterpiece of his life: unhandy! And he still 
had forty years to live. 

In the same article Mr. Hamerton expresses my view exactly in writing 
of the “ Sunset in Ireland”: “.. . rich in tone but not very luminous, 
so that the idea of sunset does not occur to us before we read the title. 
The same subject was afterwards etched in the bath . . . and the etching 
was more luminous than the drypoint.”’ I saw this second plate at Dr. 
Harrington’s house some years ago for the first time, and felt it to possess 
just what is so lacking in the drypoint. 

As an example of Haden’s amazing promptitude in gripping the essen- 
tials of a subject there is a note in the Drake catalogue of the artist’s 
work to the effect that the five Welsh plates (two of them, at least, are 
masterpleces—‘ Kilgaren Castle’’ and ‘“‘ From the Bridge at Cardigan,” 
Plate 111) were all executed, out of doors, upon the same day, 17th 
August, 1864 ! 

Another interesting note (this time by the editor of the magazine 
previously quoted) says that upon the first publication of Haden’s Etudes 
a Veau forte in France—his first issued set-—Meryon wrote to the editor 
of the “ Gazette des Beaux Arts” cautioning him against being taken in 
by these plates, which, he declared, were “not done by Mr. Haden and 
moreover not in this century ”’ ! 

This throws a double light upon both Meryon as a man, and the very 
unusual quality of Haden’s work for the period in which they were pro- 
duced, i.e. in 1865. 

According to Mr. Hamerton, Haden has left it on record that he much 
preferred zinc to copper, and certainly the style of work in which he 
excelled was thoroughly suited to the character of line yielded by that 
metal. His mordants I have already given in Chapter VI. 

As a translator of masses of foliage ; moving water and cloud effects ; 
vessels silhouetted against luminous skies, etc., into free, vigorously-bitten, 
definite line, Haden has few, if any, compeers. His printing was always 
simple and clean, and the work stands upon the merit of the sheer, black 
line alone. 

Whistler (1834-1903).—James Abbott (McNeill?) Whistler has received 
more abuse and, since his recognition, more praise than probably any 
etcher before or after him. At the time of writing the pendulum of public 
opinion has ceased to swing up—I fancy is already well started upon its 
return journey—his finest prints bringing actually less at auction than 


1 The plate was not used, the “‘ Brig at Anchor” being issued instead, but it 
would be very interestingjif a proof of this early state could be found. Dr. Harrington 
told me that he did not know of such a proof. 

_ .* McNeill was his mother’s name, added by Whistler after coming to England. 


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293 





294 HADEN AND WHISTLER 


those extremely popular ones of Cameron which are enjoying their fullest 
appreciation in the artist’s lifetime. In this respect we are all reaping 
where Whistler sowed—where Whistler and Haden sowed would be more 
just—for these two men placed etching, by their actual creative work as 
well as by their speech and writings, in a position never before occupied 
in the estimation of the public. 

It is by no means easy to appreciate the finest qualities in a Whistler 
print. It is easier in the case of Haden: far easier in that of Cameron. 
That is why the majority of those who will “ collect ’’ Whistler will do so 
because he is an established master ; the minority because it really loves 
and understands his work. 

Early Life.—There is scarce need for me to recapitulate the well-known 
facts of Whistler’s career. He was the son of an American engineer hold- 
ing the rank of Major in the U.S. Army, and while quite a small boy went 
with his family to Russia, where the Major was engaged in building a 
great railway. Upon his.return to America he entered West Point Military 
Academy (though how his eyesight was passed is a mystery: no one has 
mentioned it) ; learnt a certain amount of topographical drawing ; found 
he was unfitted for a soldier’s life ; was engaged for a short time in the 
Coast Survey Office, where he learnt his etching-craft, and utilized his 
knowledge of drawing ; and, finally, threw that up also and left America 
—practically for good—when he was nearly twenty-two, to settle in Paris 
as an art student. It was soon after this that he must have come under 
the influence of Jacque. The extraordinary resemblance both in style of 
technique and in subject between the two Jacque etchings here repro- 
duced and the Whistlers was first pointed out to me by Mr. Martin Hardie, 
and, I think, is quite conclusive (Plates 112 and 118). 

And now comes the astonishing fact that, in less than three years, 
Whistler had completed the first issued set of his etchings, Douze eaux- 
fortes daprés Nature, printed by Delatre at the end of 1858; and that 
amongst these plates are some of the finest (in my opinion) that he ever 
executed. It is rarely that a young man’s work is taken seriously unless 
he happen to die young (as in Schubert’s case), so that one must either 
accept him young or not at all! And Whistler himself disparaged his 
early plates late in life. 

His Early Maturity—Whistler belonged to the type which develops 
early and wears itself out rapidly. His zenith was reached in oil-painting 
before he was forty—the portrait of his mother was begun in 1871 at 
latest, i.e. when the artist was between thirty-six and thirty-seven years 
old—and even the Venice etchings (if one accepts them as the culmination 
of his etcher’s career) were produced in 1880. 

An Analysis.—Personally, I doubt very much whether posterity will 
accept the present verdict that the Venice sets are greater than the earliest 
sets of all. They are more obviously original, just as Chopin is more 
obviously “ original”’ than Beethoven. But is this quality so important 
as it seems ? No one who knows one note of music from another can 


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296 


HADEN AND WHISTLER 297 


mistake Chopin for anyone else, but it is perfectly easy for the uninstructed 
to confuse much of Beethoven with several of his predecessors. Why is 
this ? Why is the man who is not so obviously individual acknowledged 
as the greater artist in spite of this ?. There is the same peculiarly individual 
flavour about the work of many minor—some very minor—artists. To 
take the first name one thinks of—Beardsley ; and so we are driven to 
the conclusion that there is something which matters more than this : 
that the greatest artist must combine this—and, by so doing, hide it to 
some extent—with some quality which is greater; something outside 
himself, universal. 

In other words, the greater the artist, the less he thinks about himself 
and the more he is interested in, absorbs and expresses life outside himself. 
It is just this, it seems to me, which allows the greatest artist—the 
Rembrandt, Michel Angelo, Leonardo—to be appreciated so easily by 
people in all classes—with little or much education—in all countries. It 
is because, instead of being exclusively preoccupied by himself, he is 
in sympathy with, studies, understands and is therefore able to express 
(through the medium of himself) universal attributes of humanity. People 
say of such a man, “ Why, that’s.exactly what I feel, only I never just 
put it into words’; or, ““ How easy it looks! I feel as if I could have 
done that myself.” Quite so; everyone feels those things, but only the 
very few can express them. 

On the other hand, none of these remarks are ever made concerning 
the lesser, ‘‘ obviously original’ artist. Of him people say, ‘‘ How won- 
derful ! how brilliant ! how clever!” Last of all, ““ How original !”’ 

These remarks have many a time been called forth by the later Whistler 
prints, but rarely, I imagine, by Haden’s “Agamemnon.” It is a work 
containing that universal ‘something’ which everyone feels but none 
can explain. There is not even a figure in the whole composition, and 
yet humanity is in it by inference: much more real humanity than in 
many of Whistler’s later figure-subjects. But not more than is expressed 
by the young Whistler. 

Early Etchings Compared with Late.—In the early portraits, particu- 
larly, where the artist was obviously deeply interested in expressing the 
character of his sitters rather than in more consciously expressing his own 
ego, one feels this universal quality. “‘ They are not typical Whistlers,” 
says the critic. No, but is the typical Whistler a greater work of art ? 
Could the early portraits and Thames etchings be attributed to anyone 
else 2 Of course they could not. Why, then, is one set up as typical at 
the expense of the other? I am equally justified in saying that the later 
prints are not typical of the young Whistler! No, they are both typical, 
but of different phases of development ; and my own opinion (which I 
offer with great diffidence for what it may be worth) is that Whistler 
developed along the wrong lines. 

The Venice etchings are exquisite—the last word in that quality—but 
they are conscious of dexterity; sophisticated. They were produced by 








Etching. 45x34 
Plate 114 


LA MERE GERARD. WaISTLER. 


THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST COMPLETE & BEAUTIFUL OF THE EARLY ETCHINGS—INDEED OF ANY PERIOD 
HERE WHISTLER CHALLENGED REMBRANDT’S SIMILAR WORK. 


From a proof in the collection of the author. 


298 





Plate 115 


LA VIEILLE AUX LOQUES. WuistTLER. 


THERE IS SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARILY SATISFYING IN THIS WONDERFUL EARLY PLATE. 
NOTE THE INTIMACY OF THE DRAWING. 


From a proof in the collection of the author. 


299 


84 x 5%. 


300 HADEN AND WHISTLER 


the man who liked to be looked up to as “‘ the Master ”’ by his followers ; 
by the man who was small enough to act as 1f he believed everyone should 
give way to him, in every particular and upon every occasion. That the 
average individual was (and ever is) ready to allow a man like Whistler 
to walk over him roughshod is not only pitiable: it is the greatest curse 
to the individual who does the walking. 

It is only an artist who is arrivé who tries this, and when he does, it 
means that his art is on the wane. 

One cannot imagine the greatest artist taking this attitude, for this 
reason: that he is far too sympathetic towards, and interested in, 
humanity to treat them as if they were of no account. He can lose his 
temper with everyone, like Beethoven, but, equally like Beethoven, he will 
be the first to admit that he was wrong to do so. Surely the reason is 
that, being as great as he is, he sees more clearly than anyone that he is 
not a god, although fully conscious of his power. 

I can imagine Rembrandt full of admiration for plates like La mére 
Gérard (Plate 114), La vieille aux Loques (Plate 115), ‘“‘Annie, seated ”’ 
(Plate 118), La marchande de moutarde (Plate 112), En plein soleil, the 
various studies of children, and the old pensioner of Chelsea, to say 
nothing of the wonderful Thames plates (Plate 116), so searching, so full 
of love for the old ships, the older water-way and the men of the dock 
and sea. 

Turning to the Rialto (Plate 118), the Traghetto, “‘ Turkeys ”’ (Plate 119), 
‘The Bridge ” and San Grorgio (Plate 120), I cannot find that absorption 
of the ego in the desire to express something which it feels to be part 
of, and yet greater than, itself. In these plates I find a conscious art— 
very individual; unmistakable—and yet an art which never fcr cne 
moment loses sight of the artist. Nature, now, has to be not only expressed 
through, but improved by, the greatest of all her creations—the artist 
himself. 

I believe that had Whistler developed along the lines first laid down 
for himself, he would never have made the name he did make in the Art 
world of his time: he would not have cared very much whether he did 
or no; but he might have been one of the “‘ universal ”’ artists, and in 
time his work would have been recognized ; just as, in time, I believe the 
early plates will take rank with the Rembrandts, and only second to the 
mature and loftiest ccnceptions of Rembrandt and perhaps of Meryon : 
the Rembrandt of the Hundred Guilder print and the Meryon of La Morgue. 

I am fully aware that the majority will scoff at these convictions, but 
they are genuine convictions, and I am not ashamed to admit that I have 
been through all the stages of Whistler worship; and though I have 
always loved the earlier prints, I believed the later work to be far greater. 
But I no longer believe it: and I have tried to state my reasons, not, 
I fear, as clearly as one might who had practised with the pen, but as 
clearly as I can. 

His Printing. The Tradition Received and Left.—In printing, Whistler 


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301 





Drypoint. 113 x7} 
Plate 117. 


FINETTE. WHISTLER. 


STLER’S RLY UNDERSTANDIN THE PECT R QUALITY DRYPOI? om 
SHOWING WHI "3 EA ERSTA G@ OF ILIA Y OF POINT BURR, & THE 
RICH VELVETY BLACK OBTAINED FROM IT. 


From a proof in the British Museum. 


302 


HADEN AND WHISTLER 303 


set an example which has been the ruin of several of his followers and 
those who came after. 

The early plates he and Delatre (with the Meryon tradition) printed 
perfectly. In the later rag-wiping and painting upon the plate—suggested 
by Rembrandt— Whistler allowed himself to lose his hold upon tradition, 
and began what was to lead to a decadence in the work of his followers. 
I said, earlier, that Whistler was technically a bad printer, and, in spite of 
his often wonderful results, that is, I think, a perfectly true statement. 
I speak only of his later period, of course, and at that time he worked 
too empirically : with too little reasoning. 

He obtained his results—at times—but only at the expense of far more 
failures than were necessary. His best proofs were often marred by 
“folds ’ and also by those marks (referred to in Chapter X) which appear 
when the paper is too wet. 

In his attempts to condemn Meryon for being too faultless in technique, 
Mr. Pennell implies that this carelessness shows Whistler to have been the 
greater artist. It shows nothing of the sort. It shows that in that par- 
ticular Whistler was an artist who had not sufficient control. 

Mr. Pennell used to possess an otherwise beautiful T'raghetto, and to him 
—so he used to say—these creases made no difference. But to me they 
make this difference: they prove that the man who did the work was 
either a “‘ bad printer’ because he could not regulate his press, or that 
he was too lazy to pull another proof and then destroy the spoiled one. 
We know that Whistler was not lazy, therefore the alternative supposition 
must stand. As the editions of most of these plates were so small, the 
consequence of this empirical printing is that proofs that are both fine in 
quality—a quality which at the tome only Whistler knew how to obtain— 
and that are not blemished, are very scarce. 

There is a trial set of the second Venice etchings (of which I possess 
half) which was printed by M. Salmon in Paris for Messrs. Dowdeswell ; 
and it has an extraordinary interest for the student, because, being quite 
simply hand-wiped, the proofs show the quality of Whistler’s clean, delicate 
line in a way lost altogether by the artist himself in his desire to obtain 
atmospheric surface-effects by rag-wiping. In doing this, much of the ink 
was dragged from the lines, which became “thin.” His result was a subtle 
gradation of tone in such plates, e.g. ““ The Long Lagoon,” “La Salute— 
Dawn,” obtained at a sacrifice of the line itself: the line, in my 
own impressions, being of a remarkable strength and precision with 
no less delicacy, but with little or no gradation of surface tone to 
help it. 

Obviously such a plate as “‘ Nocturne—Palaces ” would not exist at all 
if printed in the same manner—the simplicity of the early Whistlers— 
but when a plate so perfect in its line as ‘‘ Turkeys ”’ is proved in this 
fashion, I, for one, infinitely prefer it to an impression of Whistler’s own 
handling. 

Later still, Whistler gave up this rather over-elaborate printing to a large 





| Etching. | | fa 114x742. 
Plate 118 


THE RIALTO. WHISTLER. 


A TYPICAL EXAMPLE OF THE ARTIST’S EXQUISITE LATER MANNER, NOTE THE “ VIGNETTING ” BOTH IN 
DRAWING “& IN BITING. 


From=a proof in the collection of the author 


304 





Etching. 84 x 5h. 
Plate 119 


TURKEYS. WHISTLER. 


FIRST STATE. 


ONE OF THE DAINTIEST & MOST EXQUISITE OF THE VENICE PLATES, BUT LACKING THE SOLIDITY “> INTIMACY 
OF THE EARLY WORK. 


From a proof in the collection of the author. 


U 305 





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306 


HADEN AND WHISTLER 307 


extent, but in his line-work he grew more and more sketchy; less and 
less intimate. 

I hope that, because I am following what I feel to be the truth instead 
of the fashion, no one will imagine that I am endeavouring to belittle 
Whistler’s later etchings. I do not think anyone can have a keener 
appreciation of their beauty than I. But although beauty may be one 
of the qualities of a work of art, it is not the whole of Art. In the narrower 
sense of the word it is not even a necessity, although a really great work 
is always technically beautiful. 

To repeat: I am convinced that the young Whistler, both unsoured 
and unspoilt, was nearer in spirit—in humanity—to Diirer, Rembrandt 
and Meryon than the Whistler of the later etchings, though these may 
be more “ beautiful.”” And does not Humanity count for more than all 
other qualities put together ? 


CHAPTER XXVI 
THE MODERNS: AND THE REVIVAL OF THE GRAPHIC ARTS IN ENGLAND 


It is difficult for any artist to stand outside his own art as a critic may, 
and particularly so when called upon to review the work of his contem- 
poraries. 

Although practically a truism to say that every artist is biased in favour 
of his own manner of treating a subject, it is not true of an individual 
all the time. Contrary to the general belief, it 2s possible for an artist to 
judge dispassionately, and—it may necessitate conscious effort—to appre- 
ciate, fully, another’s standpoint, even though diametrically opposed to 
his own. 

I have always loved other people’s prints and collected them even when 
I could not afford it, and I possess examples of nearly every modern etcher 
since the eighteenth century mentioned in these pages. 

Adverse criticism of one’s contemporaries—especially of those who are 
most popular at the moment—is ever looked upon as being the result of 
professional jealousy. As a matter of fact, I believe it is generally per- 
fectly sincere though often mistaken. 

Jealousy in art is to me as ridiculous as mock-modesty or conceit, and 
any one of them implies that the artist is thinking more of himself than 
his art. It should be, surely, a joy to him to discover great art, whether 
he himself or another was its creator ? 

Jealousy also implies the inferiority of him who is jealous in his own 
estumation, though he will not admit it even to himself. 

The only way to do good work is to believe that, sooner or later, you 
yourself will do the very best work; and he who so believes can never 
be jealous of anyone. 

That there is an amazing revival of fine draughtsmanship in Britain at 
the present time (1924) should be patent to anyone who has eyes to see. 
It began before the war with etching and lithography, and since the war 
has included black-and-white woodcut. 

In England, after Whistler and Haden had produced their best work 
a great number of etchers grew up who followed too closely in the foot- 
steps of one or the other, sometimes both. 

These men—I was one of them—believed that everything had to be 
sacrificed to the inspiration of the moment—the sketch was what it 
amounted to in most cases—and though much of the output on these lines 
was vital it was not based on solid foundations, and consequently could 
not be built upon without sooner or later toppling over. 

Following Whistler’s later and weaker manner everyone tended to 


308 





Plate 121 
SELF PORTRAIT. StTRAna. 


ONE OF THE MOST SEARCHINGLY DRAWN G INDIVIDUAL OF THE ARTIST'S PLATES, 
From a proof in the collection of the author. 


309 


310 THE MODERNS 


vignette ; toindicate ; suggest ; “feel ” for form in a vague indeterminate 
way ; to fear all positive statement, and the carrying through of a drawing 
upon the copper to the bitter end. It was easy and “artistic,” but led 
to chaos and oblivion as the easy road must. 

The inevitable revolt came, as it was bound to come, and a return to 
individual study of nature and the fundamental laws governing art, rather 
than nature-study through the medium of Whistler. In other words, men 
began to look for themselves, as Whistler and Haden had done. 

This caused a revival of the study of the older masters, and, in etching, 
Rembrandt again became the master, just as in some other mediums the 
young men reacted to Italian Primitivism, throwing over the Impres- 
sionism of Velasquez, who was the master of Whistler and his school. 

Men saw also that Impressionism carried to its logical extreme became 
an absurdity: that a slice cut from Nature was not necessarily art. They 
cast about for the secret of the bigness of Design shown in the work of 
the great masters even when their drawing was unrealistic or distorted, 
and for the moment this distortion in one or two of the masters who 
showed great power of design—e.g. E] Greco—was mistaken for a neces- 
sary, integral part of that design. 

There is no need to go into the eventual development of this theory of 
distortion until all idea of making shapes represent anything objective was 
abandoned and we had the full tornado of Cubism upon us, as etching 
itself was only very slightly affected by the movement: not in the least 
in its main evolution. 

None of the biggest men went off the track, and it was only natural 
that some of the beginners should be temporarily upset ; but most artists 
who wished to express themselves in modern terms took up the wood 
instead of the metal. 

To indicate how “ modern ”’ these terms were I should note that some 
years ago I found in the Tibetan monasteries of Ladak wall decorations 
showing precisely similar influences ! The only difference between them 
and the modern Kuropean works being that those of Tibet are far more 
beautiful ! 

I take it that the reason why so few etchers were included in this move- 
ment was that to be a great etcher a man must be peculiarly sane and 
yet sensitive and alive ; and at the time the great etchers in this country 
were also the majority of its greatest draughtsmen. Eliminate such names 
as Bone, John, Brangwyn, Clausen, Cameron, Blampied and McBey, 
and abroad Bauer, Forain and, in his own line, Benson from modern 
draughtsmen, and it is a very serious matter indeed. None of these men 
showed the faintest trace of the modern movement, and every one of them 
has been—more or less directly—influenced by Rembrandt. 

The spirit of unrest had, of course, manifested itself in France (and 
among the continental peoples generally) before it showed itself in Great 
Britain, and not by any means only in the Graphic Arts. Whistler’s 
impressionism was but part of a big movement in Paris imported thence 


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311 


312 THE MODERNS 


by him into London ; and the revolt against the fag-end of Impressionism 
abroad was the outcome of the same logical impulse as that against the 
Whistlerian in this country. 

Every phase of artistic manifestation must have its impetuous uprush 
in infancy ; its vigorous, controlled maturity, and its decadence; and 
when the last sets in it is time for the new generation to revolt. It is 
then only natural that the youthful enthusiasm of the revolutionaries 
should blind them to anything fine that there may have been in the 
maturity of the last phase, their eyes being fixed upon the immediately 
preceding decadence. 

But to return : while the majority of English etchers were endeavouring 
to carry on the later Whistler tradition—Frank Brangwyn was the notable 
exception—several Scotsmen were coming to the front, who, though tech- 
nically influenced by the American, eventually checked the decay. These 
were Strang—at the time largely under the spell of Legros—Cameron, who 
founded himself upon Meryon, and Muirhead Bone. 

Bone is undoubtedly the supreme master of drypoint, and one of the 
great etchers in the history of the art.. Such plates as the “‘ Demolition 
of St. James’s Hall—Interior ” (Plate 182), “Ayr Prison” (Plate 188), 
“San Frediano, Florence,’ “‘ South Coast, No. 2,” “‘ Leeds Warehouses,” 
“The Shot Tower,” to name a few from memory, are masterpieces, and 
one can say no more of any work. 

His drawings—many of them—are equally great, but are not yet 
“ collected,”’ as drawings are not in fashion. 

No one—not even Rembrandt—has handled the burr of the medium, 
with its capability of yielding both extreme richness and delicacy, with 
more power and certainty.? 

To my mind, Strang did a great deal of spade-work of which others will 
reap the benefit, but he was rarely himself, though often very nearly so. 
Some of his portraits of men, however, are very fine indeed, and genuinely 
personal expressions ; but often his work commands one’s respect while 
it fails to move. 

Cameron has probably done more than any man to popularize etching, 
and some of his architectural plates are very notable. I have already 
referred to the “‘ Chimera of Amiens ” (Plate 185), which, in my opinion, 
is the best of all his etchings. In it, moreover, one may see most clearly 
both the strength and the weakness of Cameron’s art. Technically it is 
superb: far finer than its prototype Le Stryge: it is beautifully etched 
and finely spaced. It is also as personal as the Meryon, but it lacks what 
all Cameron’s plates lack—humanity. One feels that the etcher was 
interested in Etching: not in expressing Life through the medium of 
etching. 

His chief appeal lies in his black-and-white pattern (see Plate 186) which 
tells richly when hung in a quiet-toned drawing-room. In this one feels 
the greatest difference between his prints and those of his predecessor, 


1 See next chapter for plates and personal notes, 


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313 


314 THE MODERNS 


Whistler. The average Whistler does not—nor was it intended to— 
decorate a wall. At a little distance the delicate expressive lines vanish, 
while the black masses of the Cameron—especially the later Cameron dry- 
point—tell better than when looked into too closely.! 

One of the greatest masters of etching—certainly of to-day and, I think, 
of all time—is Marius Bauer. In this country only the few appreciate him 
so far. He is extraordinarily versatile in the treatment of his plates and 
can vary his scale with equal facility. For instance, his “ Siege of Con- 
stantinople ” is only 4 inches in length and 8 inch in depth, and yet, in 
its few delicate lines, suggests the bigness of a mural decoration ; while 
his “ Porch of a Mosque,” a wonderful, rich interior, broadly and freely 
etched, is nearly 24 feet in height and 2 feet broad. It is, in my opinion, 
one of the greatest prints since Rembrandt, and a direct descendant of 
the “ Three Crosses.” 

Between these extremes of scale there is a wonderful series of plates, 
some mere suggestions, like the delicate drypoint “‘Stamboul Bridge,” 
done in a few strokes, of which the subject is not a bridge, but the tired 
wayfarers ; others, like the “Amiens Cathedral,” having an intricate lace- 
like pattern covering the entire surface of the copper. Every one of them 
is full of intense human feeling and deep emotion. I think no one living 
can approach Bauer in the luminosity and pattern of broad shadows seen 
in such monumental plates as ‘‘ The Entrance to a Mosque,” “‘ The Entry 
of a Queen ” (Plate 124) and “‘A Sultan ”’ (Plate 125). “‘ The Entry ” has 
surely never been surpassed even by Rembrandt.? 

Another very great foreign etcher, now a veteran, is Forain. His later 
prints are so different from his earlier that it is like looking at the work 
of another man. In his case it is only the late work which is significant, 
and some of it is of the very first rank. 

He, like Bauer, follows Rembrandt very closely, yet he also resembles 
the modern Dutchman in being intensely himself. 

He has influenced the younger men in this country very much in recent 
years, though one of those who succumbed to his domination was of the 
older generation—Strang. His actual style—even more so than that of 
Legros—is a dangerous one for another to build upon. The follower is 
apt to take hold of the mannerism rather than the truth of draughtsman- 
ship which lies beneath. In his plates of the law-courts, Forain is deeply 
indebted to his greater predecessor in France, Honoré Daumier, whose 
lithographs contained even more dramatic force than the etchings of the 
living artist (Plate 126). 

Forain came entirely into his own, however, in his series of motdfs 
taken from the Life of Christ, and, in them and his remarkable 
Lourdes set, carried the art of elimination of unessentials to an 
extreme. 

Le Retour de Venfant Prodigue (4th plate) is one of the simplest and 


1 See next chapter for plates and personal note. 
2 For notes by the artist and further plate see next chapter. 


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Plate 125 
A SULTAN. M. A. J. BAuER. 


NoTE THE ORIGINAL USE OF THE GREAT SHADOW IN BUILDING UP THIS IMPRESSIVE DESIGN. 
From a proof in the collection of J. D. Pollock, Esq., M.D. 


316 


163% 15. 


THE MODERNS 317 


most moving of etchings, and yet in it Forain shows his indebtedness to 
Rembrandt most clearly (Plate 127). 

The quality in which he is pre-eminent—I think nowadays without rival 
—is his sense of the dramatic in human affairs. 

I well remember when Mr. Dodgson showed me a number of Forain 
prints some seventeen years ago that they seemed to me just sketchy 
Rembrandts. Probably I said as much, and, if so, Mr. Dodgson wisely 
said nothing. Yet in one—the least important—sense, that was a true 
criticism. Asa student, I was unable to see (as I see now) that one master 
may obviously found himself upon the work of a greater and yet keep his 
own individuality and be able to say something for himself. 

The youth who is trying to learn how to do things is more interested in 
the manner than the matter. But to the man who has mastered his own 
technique, the technique of others ceases to be of primary importance. 
He can pay more attention to the matter. He then realizes that there are 
other points of view besides his own, all equally right. 

““In my Father’s house are many mansions.’ One can forgive a hot- 
headed student for being dogmatic, and intolerant of work which is 
expressed in a form unlike that which he is trying to master. But an 
intolerant, dogmatic old man is very different. He is not only intolerant 
but intolerable. 

There have been many other very good etchers in modern France, but 
none that, in any work which I have seen, can be ranked with Forain. 
One can hardly help thinking of Steinlen because his work came so near 
to being first-rate. He may have done an exceptional plate now and then 
which really lifted him into the first rank, but I have never seen one. The 
same applies to that most prolific worker Lepere. Twenty years ago his 
work stood out from the average mediocre production, but now he has 
been easily surpassed by several late comers. Twenty years ago Forain 
had hardly begun to find himself although already in his sixth decade; 
none of the younger British etchers had produced his great work, and 
Bauer was hardly more than beginning to be known. Forain’s name is 
not even mentioned in the Ist edition (1908) of Mr. Hind’s “ History,”’ 
while Bauer has but a meagre five lines. Reputations have changed since 
then ! 

Another foreign etcher—a native of Sweden—who has had considerable 
influence upon all the modern schools is Zorn. 

Few men create more than a small number of master-works, but in 
Zorn’s case the gap which separates his “‘ Renan” (Plate 128) and the 
relatively small number of really fine works from his average production 
is to me far greater than in the case of most artists. 

I have studied Zorn’s etchings for fully twenty years, and I cannot yet 
feel that many of them are in any way great works of art. To me the 
majority are intensely clever but entirely superficial. Zorn etched con- 
siderably from his paintings, and he thought in terms of brush-marks 
rather than in line. He skilfully avoided the searching draughtsmanship 





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319 


320 THE MODERNS 


which is necessary in order to render form with the point, and though he 
had great vitality, his outlook was usually commonplace. 

Having said all this, let me hasten to give him full credit for an un- 
doubted masterpiece—“ Renan.” It is a work which holds its own by 
the master-works of any time. In this tour de force Zorn must have been 
moved to an utterance far beyond his normal capability—at least, that 
is the only explanation I can find—for rarely does he approach this level : 
hardly even in L’Irlandaise and “‘ Mona.” An exceptionally fine study 
of an old man is Djos Mats. In such a popular plate as “ King Oscar II,” 
Zorn sinks to the level of the snapshot. On the other hand, from a purely 
technical point of view his plates are very equal, which is also significant. 

Brangwyn! has already been mentioned as the outstanding Englishman 
to break away from the Whistler thrall. His huge plates were anathema 
to the followers of that school, and though I admit I have no great love 
for the majority of them, it is not on account of their size but because 
of the way in which they are printed. Almost clean-wiped, I cannot but 
think they would be very much finer. So printed, without the over- 
elaborate painting upon the surface, some of these great plates would rank 
amongst the masterpieces of etching (see Plate 140). The splendid 
arrangement is always visible, but the superb draughtsmanship is, more 
often than not, obscured. It is the more strange, to me, that this giant 
among moderns should have failed to realize the value of the unfaked 
“state of the plate,’ because he shows how perfectly he understands the 
quality of the simple line in his magnificent woodcuts. 

Clausen! is an artist of an older generation who has shown his great 
individuality upon the copper as well as in paint. 

The few plates that I have seen are extremely beautiful, showing his 
deep sympathy with the worker on the land, and are examples of. how 
even a comparatively elementary technique can express the ideas of a man 
who knows exactly what he wants to say. One of the finest is reproduced 
in the next chapter (Plate 134). 

Of the younger men who showed no trace of the Whistler influence, but 
on the contrary went directly to Rembrandt, is Augustus John.! 

His self-portrait, Téte farouche (Plate 138), Jacob Epstein, C. McEvoy 
(Plate 189) and several others are amongst the finest of modern prints 
and have curiously escaped the booming which many inferior productions 
have undergone. They are drawn with a delicate, sensitive, Rembrandt- 
esque line and are very personal ; very beautiful. 

Much as I disagree with the dogmatic and partisan utterances of Joseph 
Pennell in print, | admire many of his sayings on copper. Though founded 
on Whistler, they are yet personal and sometimes very fine indeed. To 
his work in aquatint I have already drawn attention in the chapter on 
that method. Pennell’s plates must be seen in series to obtain the best 
from them—his attitude is always that of the pictorial journalist—and 
that is why most individual plates are a little disappointing. Nevertheless 


1 These artists’ personal notes, with the plates, will be found in the next chapter. 


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321 


322 THE MODERNS 


he has done a great work, and a few of his later plates, notably those 
dealing with Pittsburg with its smoke and dirt, are masterpieces. 

Amongst the men who are still actively producing is McBey.! He early 
came under the influence of Rembrandt, then of Seymour Haden and 
Whistler, and finally of Forain, but in all these phases he retained his own 
individuality!; now more, now less. The war acted upon him as a great 
stimulus, as upon many others, and during that period he produced some 
very fine plates: notably the “Sussex ”’ (Plate 141). The motif—sunset 
behind the vessel—reminds one inevitably of Haden’s masterpiece, but 
the treatment is his own, and it is a work to live with. There are many 
prints of almost equal quality of this time ; but not until the artist was 
sent with the Australian Camel Corps to the desert did he find inspiration 
for plates fully entitled to rank with the “ Torpedoed Sussex.” 

Such were “ Strange Signals ” and ‘“ Dawn,” and in many ways I think 
they are a more personal expression than anything McBey has given us. 
“ Strange Signals ” (Plate 142) is a very original design and contains the 
very essence of the desert, as none knows better than I. It contains also 
the chief characteristics of the artist: his impulsiveness, his sense of the 
dramatic, his strength combined with delicacy of handling. 

Another man who drew amazing inspiration from the war, and whose 
sense of the dramatic is second to none, is Percy Smith.! The present-day 
public is incapable of judging his “‘ Dance of Death ” (Plates 145 and 146) 
purely from the esthetic point of view. It does not wish to be re- 
minded of the all too recent bitterness of loss, but in time to come these 
plates will, I feel sure, be looked upon as the most searching commentary 
on the horrors of the Great War produced in this country: perhaps 
in any. 

Two men who in collaboration produced some very fine plates in the 
manner of engraving were the brothers Detmold. More recently the sur- 
viving brother has etched a variety of subjects and in several different 
styles. By far the finest are those in which the artist is working from 
actual facts and in the manner adopted originally by the pair. Such is 
the splendid Diirer-like study of a chained eagle, ‘‘ The Captive.”’ From 
his oriental plates, however, it is quite impossible to believe that the etcher 
knows anything at first hand of the East, though it is presumably hardly 
from ignorance that he endows the Indian cattle with buffalo horns, makes 
his elephants thirty feet high and plants banana trees in the desert !_ Not- 
withstanding these “ artistic licences,” some of these plates have a great 
deal of feeling and atmosphere. 

I have already referred to the very important work in aquatint of John 
Everett (Plates 151 and 152) and his pupil (in the medium) Mrs. Laura 
Knight! (see Chapters XIII and XXII). In his studies of sailing ships, 
Everett has struck a new note, and his technical control is extraordinary. 
Mrs. Knight’s figure-subjects, based on the Goya tradition, show tremen- 
dous power in design and draughtsmanship and are technically faultless. 


1 These artists’ personal notes, with the plates, will be found in the next chapter. 


THE MODERNS 323 


They will probably wait some time for recognition, as their subjects are 
not likely to appeal to the average collector (Plates 149 and 150). 

Blampied 1—a native of Jersey—is one of the most individual draughts- 
men now living, and his plates (148 and 144)—more especially his etchings 
than his drypoints—are almost as fine as his pen drawings. 

He is largely a specialist, and his study has been horses. Probably no 
draughtsman knows the horse so intimately as he, and he has the power 
of expressing that knowledge. But Blampied has also a most intimate 
understanding of the peasant of his native country-side, and it is his great 
humanity which appeals so directly and so rightly to the public. His 
drawing of the “ Sick-mother ” is one of my most valued possessions, and 
I only hope he may use the motif for interpretation on the copper. 

A man whose work is the antithesis of the Whistler tradition, whose 
technique is superb, and who has something to say with it, is Griggs. 
There is a peculiarly satisfying quality about his best prints—engraver-like 
though they are—which means that, however much he has elaborated his 
careful and deliberate work, he has successfully retained his idea from start 
to finish, and this is surely a hall-mark of great work—if the idea is of 
value in the first place. 

Nevinson! has done some most interesting work in several mediums and 
should do still more vital work if he becomes sufficiently absorbed in any 
one branch of human activity. Some of his plates of the French front 
during the war showed what he could do when moved. ‘“ That Cursed 
Wood ”’ (Plate 147) is a drypoint of distinct personality, and contains 
something more than a merely objective representation of the battle area. 
His little etching “ In Suburbia ”’ (Plate 148) is also full of genuine obser- 
vation of life. 

Among the younger Englishmen, Wheatley, Rushbury, Brockhurst and 
Nixon have all done plates which are notable, but all still have their work 
ahead of them. 

Particularly fine is Wheatley’s bold, drypoint profile “ Old Rogers.” 
Brockhurst is very personal in his etchings of women, though he is still 
more convincing, to me, in his delightful pencil drawings. Rushbury’s 
“Les Baux, Provence,” is a drypoint of great power and points to good 
things in the future ; while much may be expected from the young artist 
of the “‘ Italian Fiesta,’’ Job Nixon. 

Noteworthy plates have also been produced in recent years by Malcolm 
Osborne, J. W. Nicolson, Westley Manning, George Marples, W. P. Robins, 
Herbert Whydale and William Larkins, whose “ Underwood St., White- 
chapel,” is a fascinating little work. 

In France, Auguste Brouet must be mentioned as the etcher of a number 
of interesting plates; while, judging by the few I have seen, still higher 
rank must be accorded to the works of the Spanish-born Pablo Picasso. 

It is difficult for us on this side of the Atlantic to have much knowledge 
of the American and Canadian etchers: I mean of those men who stay 


1 These artists’ personal notes, with the plates, will be found in the next chapter 


32 t THE MODERNS 


in their own land. We know of those who come to Europe: of Pennell 
and Maclaughlan, but there must be men of outstanding merit who are 
at present unheard of in this country. 

But one at least is well known here, and very justly: Frank Benson. 
His studies of wild-fowl and other birds are wonderful (see Plates 180 
and 181),! and mark him as a man apart: holding a place in the collector’s 
heart which will, Iam sure, be permanent. In his best work, both etched 
and drypoint, Benson is among the great etchers. His feeling for move- 
ment is at times astonishing. 

A younger American who has done a few remarkably beautiful, pure 
line plates is Louis Rosenberg. His “ Isola Tiberina ”’ is an exquisite little 
etching, somewhat on Whistler lines, yet quite personal. 

I don’t know anything more distasteful than the making of more or less 
invidious distinctions between the works of my own contemporaries. One 
can never pre-judge any artist’s life work. Some “ find themselves ”’ at 
the beginning: others not till the end of their lives. I may have over- 
estimated the work of some: underestimated that of others. Without 
the time at the disposal of the professed critic one can see but a small 
proportion of any one man’s work, and, the chances are, happen upon 
the least representative side of it. 

Although restricted here to the discussion of etchers only, I should be 
very sorry to give the impression that the extraordinary revival of Black- 
and- White in London, of late, has been confined to workers in that medium. 
Perhaps the most vital movement of all has been that of the woodcut 
group. Then there has been splendid work done in lithography, and 
besides, we have magnificent draughtsmen who have taken up no repro- 
ductive medium. 

I must not mention even a few of the great names connected with these 
various activities ; but it is a period in which we may well be proud to 
take some part, though I doubt if many realize how high the general 
standard of draughtsmanship has been pushed, and how much more severe 
the appraisement nowadays before a man’s work is accepted as of out- 
standing merit. 

I salute all genuine etchers: past, present and to come. 


1 See next chapter for plates and personal notes. 


PART IV 
CHAPTER XXVII 


PERSONAL NOTES BY EMINENT ETCHERS ON THEIR METHODS 


THE following personal notes upon their technical practice have been very 
kindly contributed by the artists expressly for this book. On such a 
subject a definite assertion by the etcher himself must necessarily be of 
far more value than suppositions by any one else. 

The student will see, at a glance, in comparing the methods of these 
eminent craftsmen, that there is no “royal road” in etching. One man 
produces great work by means of methods abhorrent to others of equal 
authority. It is for the beginner to discover the technique best suited to 
his own temperament : to what he wishes to express. 

In the earlier chapters I tried to show authentic examples of the tech- 
nical processes reviewed, and therefore relied exclusively upon my own 
plates, even where this entailed the employment of a method hitherto 
unfamiliar, e.g. the perchloride-of-iron bath. 

Here I have selected some of the best from the e@uvre of each modern 
specialist whose technical preferences are given—more or less fully—in 


the individual’s own words. 


325 


Notes spy M. A. J. BAUER 


Plates.—The big plates are mostly copper, but many of the little earlier 
ones are of zinc, e.g. “Mecca Pilgrims,” ‘Street in Constantinople,” 
“A Fountain ; Stamboul,” “ Horsemen under a Gate,” “ Market Day,”’ 
‘Wall of the Harem,”’ are all zinc. 


Ground.—I never use the roller. 

Acid.—I always buy salt-petre1 acid at the chemist’s, and generally 
take one-half water and one-half salt-petre, but not exactly. Sometimes 
(the acid) nearly without water; it depends on the etching. I have no 
regular proportion and strength. I do my biting rather quickly, and 
prefer to spoil the plate than to do it systematically. It is always a 
question of feeling. 

Method.—I never made any etching from drawings, but make the com- 
position directly on the plate. Usually I begin with one figure and the 
composition grows little by little, though I have the whole in mind. 


No, I never etched out of doors (from nature). 


1 Nitric. See Chapter VI. 


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Notes By FRANK BENSON 


Plates.—I use zinc rarely ; copper usually. 
Ground.—Sand’s! ground. 


Acid.—I have only used Dutch mordant twice, and find it does not suit 
my manner of working. I have long given up the bath. I flow the mor- 
dant on the plate where I want it with a feather or brush, and, because 
of the thicker consistency of perchloride, I find I use this generally, though 
it shows the progress of the work less well than nitric. Sometimes I 
brighten all the lines with the latter to see where I stand, and finish the 
heavier parts with this mordant. 


[Mr. Benson adds, in the course of his very interesting letter, the follow- 
ing passage, which should be instructive to the genuine student and also 
to the collector :]-: 


Birds were the passion of my youth, and I drew them until I was 
middle-aged with no thought that they might prove interesting to others 
than my sportsmen friends. You will realize that a subject of this nature 
will hardly ever pose for one, and my pictures of wild-fowl are entirely 
the result of things seen in nature and drawn from memory. I try to 
make them part of the landscape in which they occur, rather than to 
describe them as specimens. The thing that I most enjoy about them is 
their wildness. Once or twice I have drawn captive geese or a tame 
pelican, but the best results I get on shooting expeditions where I watch 
for the things that I want and afterwards fix them (or fail to fix them) 
in drawings. 


1 This is a good old English make of ordinary ball ground. It is used consider- 
ably by process etchers. 


328 





soiner ee el 














AE a : hae one ane. 
Plate 130 


HERONS AT REST. FRANK W. BENSON. 
A NOTEABLE EXAMPLE OF THE ART WHICH BENSON HAS MADE EMPHATICALLY HIS OWN, 
From a proof in the collection of the author, 


329 








Drypoint. a Ls Sen fooaiatta ss ae 5X 33 
Plate 181 


SUMMER YELLOW-LEGS. FRANK W. BENSON. 
THIS EXQUISITE PLATE IS NOTABLE BOTH FOR DESIGN & OBSERVATION. 


From a proof in the collection of the author. 


330 





Drypoint. 15}X 114 
Plate 132 


DEMOLITION OF ST. JAMES’S HALL—INTERIOR. MuvrryuEAD BONE 
TRIAL STATE. 


THIJS PLATE SHOWS THE EXTRAORDINARY DEITH & LUMINOSITY WHICH CAN BE OBYAINED FROM THE BURR 
OF DRYPOINT IN THE HANDS OF A SUPREME MASTER. 


From a proof in the collection of the author. 


33] 


Notes By Murrueap Bone 


I have not examined the matter carefully, but I suppose about half my 
plates have been done straight from nature, and the other half in my 
studio from drawings. “Ayr Prison” was done in the studio with the 
help of a slight jotting, but really from memory. 


The ‘‘ Shot Tower ”’ was done leaning on the Thames Embankment wall 
opposite (and very hard work it was !). 

Both the plates of St. James’s Hall (Plate 132) are compositions made 
from sketches ; but most of my country plates have been done direct on 
the copper from nature, as one works there under comfortable conditions, 
and the important thing to preserve is the feeling and freshness. 


5) 


‘Orvieto’ was done on the spot and finished in the studio; “San 
Frediano,”’ “‘ Rainy Night in Rome ” and ‘“‘ The Dogana ” from drawings. 
“The Fish Market, Venice, No. 1,’ was done out of doors; also the 
‘“* Somerset House,”’ which is one of the largest plates I have ever done 
on the spot. 

One certainly gets a freshness and vivacity in plates done direct, but 
it precludes the possibility of carefully digested composition, and it is 
exceedingly difficult, out of doors, to return to work day after day as one 
does, say, in the case of an oil-painting. Often, too, one gets a simpler, 
better statement of the particular sentiment or “theme” of a scene by 
doing it from memory or a very rough sketch ; and in that case elaborate 
drawings made from Nature are more often a hindrance than a help. 

“Ayr Prison ” (Plate 133) was worked entirely with a diamond. I have 
split many diamonds, and one is particularly liable to do this on the 
edge of the plate. 

“The Demolition of St. James’s Hall” (interior) was done, I think, 
altogether with steel. 

“St. Peter’s from the Pincio”’ was one of the comparatively few zinc 
plates. It only gave about three impressions. The others mentioned were 
copper. 

Messrs. Brooker and Co. kindly make up my ink for me, and I thin 
it when necessary. In inking-up I use the dabber, but it certainly isn’t 
very satisfactory and I must try the roller. 


332 


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333 


Notes BY GEORGE CLAUSEN, R.A. 


Plates.—I work both on copper and on zinc. 


Ground.—lI ground the plate with the dabber in the old-fashioned way, 
and stop-out, etc., in the orthodox manner. 

Acid.—A 50 per cent solution of nitric acid for copper, and a weaker 
one (I am not very exact about these things, I’m afraid) for zinc. 

Method.—I always make a drawing and work from that. I like to print 
as clean as possible. I think the visiting card is the ideal of printing, 1.e. 
that the plate should give you what you want when wiped clean ; though 
I generally “ drag ” the ink a little here and there. 

I am so much of an amateur in this work that I’ve no claim on technical 
grounds. What I try to do is to get the thing expressive with as few 


lines, and in as simple a way, as possible. 


This plate, ‘ Filling Sacks ” (Plate 134), was an old hammered copper. 


334 


Etching. 


Plate 134 
FILLING SACKS. GErorGE CLAUSEN, R.A. 


IN THIS BEAUTIFUL G INDIVIDUAL TLATE WE SEE THE INFLUENCE OF JACQUE STILL VIRILF, 


From a@ proof in the collection of the author. 


335 


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Notes By Sir D. Y. Cameron, R.A. 


Plates.—I always use copper. 

Acid.—The strength of my acid (nitric) is of little interest to me. 

I always judge of lines by taking the plates out and examining them. 
I have no science whatsoever and no data of any importance for students. 


I never use a feather with acid now, and only in my early days did I 


do so.1 


1 This presumably refers to the method of playing the acid on the plate as noted 
in Whistler’s later manner: not to removing bubbles from the lines. 


336 





9§ X 72. 


Etching & Drypoint. 
Plate 135 


THE CHIMERA OF AMIENS. Sim D. Y. Cameron, R.A. 
TRIAL STATE. 


IN SPITE OF ITS OBVIOUS DERKT TO MERYON, THIS PLATE IS VERY PERSONAL & TECHNICALLY SUPERIOR 
TO ITS PROTOTYPE. 


From a proof in the collection of R. K. Blair, Esq. 


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338 


Notes By Sir Frank Snort, R.A. 


“A Span of Old Battersea Bridge.” Aquatint. 
Plate.—Copper. 


Ground.—That of the distance through the span was a spirit-ground to 
give an air of transparency as opposed to the dust-ground for the bridge, 
which is more sodden in sympathy with the old timbers. 


The bridge part was got on the plate, in the first instance, by biting 
through bichromated gelatin, using for the transfer by light a chalk-and- 
wash drawing on thin paper made transparent by varnish. 


This was afterwards strengthened by soft-ground and by re-biting with 
other aquatint grounds—possibly two or three. 


The distance was done last by ordinary stopping-out. 


Acid.—Perchloride of iron and nitric were the baths used. 


(Continued on the next page) 


339 


“Curfew: Rye.” 

Plate.—Copper. 

First or Line State—This was drawn from nature, and sand-paper was 
used a little to cause fouling, in order to suggest the broken quality of 
the old timbers. 

Acid.—+ nitric to % water. 

Second or Aquatint State.—A fine resin spirit-ground was laid, and bitten 
in five gradations with the same acid: one bubbling being sufficient for 
the first, and the time increased for each successive biting. 

A gradation was obtained in the water by dipping the plate in edgeways. 

I think the ‘‘ Whitby Scaur ”’ might be interesting to students. There 
were two spirit-grounds, that of the mid-distance and foreground being 
laid with the direction of the grain horizontal; while that of the sky 
around the glare of the rising sun was laid with a radiating grain obtained 
by whirling the plate (in this case upside down) during the process of 
formation! of the ground. 

This was done to help the radiation of the light from the sun. 


This plate was also bitten with nitric acid. 


I have also used the Dutch bath of the usual strength. 


1 ie. the drying.—E.S.L. 


340 


: 
3 
RS 
Ss 
§ 
‘ 











Aquatint. 6X 7f. 


Plate 137 
CURFEW, RYE. Sim Frank SHort, R.A. 


THESE TWO STATES SHOW THE ORDINARY PROCEDURE OF USING THE ETCHED LINE AS A GUIDE TO THE TONE 
PROCESS THERE IS SAND-GRAIN FOULING UPON THE TIMBERS IN THE FIRST STATE, 


From proofs in the Victoria & Altert Museum. 











4 
; 


Notes spy Avucustus E. Joun, A.R.A. 


Plates.—Copper. 

Ground.—Rhind’s. 

Acid.—Nitric and Rhind’s “ English Mordant.”’ 

Nearly all the plates were drawn direct from Life or imagination. 
In biting, the plates were mostly submerged. 


Printing.—I have printed a great many myself, but have had editions 
done by a professional printer. 


Nearly all my plates suffer from hasty and inaccurate biting. ‘‘ Téte 
Farouche ”’ is too coarsely, and “‘ McEvoy ” equally under, bitten.! 


I have rarely used drypoint, and then only by way of reinforcing the 
etching, and with only doubtful success. 


1 I cannot endorse the artist’s opinion of the biting of these two plates.—E.S.L. 


342 





81% X 6}. 


Plate 138 
TETE FAROUCHE. Avaustus E. Jonny, A.R.A. 


THIS EARLY SELF-PORTRAIT IS CERTAINLY ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING—PERHAPS THE FINEST—OF 
THE ARTIST’S PLATES. THE VIGNETTING IS A MATTER OF PRINTING ONLY, 


From a proof in the collection of the author, 


343 


Etching 


Plate 139 
CHARLES McEVOY. <Avaustus E. Joun, A.R.A. 


A TYPICAL EXAMPLE OF THE ARTIST’S DIRECT LINE IN THE REMBRANDT TRADITION. 
From a proof in the collection of E. L. Allhusen, Esq. 


o44 





Notes By FranK Branewyy, R.A. 


Plates.—Both copper and zinc. 


Ground.—Most of the plates I had coated for me with Rhind’s liquid 
ground. 


Acid.—Nitrous—roughly speaking, half-and-half, and I like to bite-in 
in the summer because it works quicker. 

I used to experiment with a white surface by painting over the ordinary 
ground with several things.! I found gum cracked up the ground in dry- 
ing by its contraction, so I bought some powdered zinc-white and mixed 
it with yolk of egg as a medium. The egg gave more elasticity and 
prevented the cracking. 


Biting is a matter of feeling, and I have never had any rules. It’s a 
sort of instinct. 


The modern soft plates don’t seem to be attacked by the acid strongly 
enough, and sometimes I have used the nitrous neat. 


I can’t imagine any man whose ideas come quickly—spontaneously— 


1 See Rembrandt’s ground, p. 36. 


345 


putting up with a slow mordant, and I don’t believe Rembrandt bit his 
plates with a slow acid, as people think. 


Some of the big plates were taken out of doors and drawn straight from 
the model on the spot. 


“The Feast of Lazarus.’ Zinc. 


This plate was done direct from the models in the studio and the com- 
position was evolved on the plate. After the first proof, the top part of 
the composition was entirely changed, and it took a lot of grinding to 
get it all out before the new work could be etched. 


346 


"8S X £6 


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WOIGGA AHL AO LNAAWLVAUL 8. 


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ISILYUY HHL AO IVOIMAL SI ALVId NALLIA ATSQOUONIA ‘HNNH SIA, 


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347 


Notes spy JAMES McBry 


Plates.—All copper. 
Ground.—I have never used a liquid ground at any time. I like to be 
able to vary the thickness of my ground. Generally I make it up myself— 


2 white wax 
1 gum mastic 


but in cold weather a little more of white wax in proportion. 

Acid.—Nitric was, I fancy, used for the “ Sussex”’ (Plate 141), and 
certainly nitrous on the “ Strange Signals ” (Plate 142), both as strong 
as I could safely manipulate them. The deepest lines would not have 
taken more than twenty minutes. The ground unsmoked. 

I pour half my pure nitrous into a large bottle, adding its own bulk of 
water. The other half I use to keep my acid up to strength, adding as 
required, preferring a bath which has been used time and again. 

No actual bath was used. The surface of the plate was simply flooded 
with acid, and the stuff pushed about with the help of a feather, a fountain 
pen filler and saliva. 

My Edinburgh plates were bitten with perchloride of iron, but I dis- 
continued it because of the deposit which choked up the lines. 

Many of the Aberdeen plates were bitten with the Dutch mordant, but 
I am not fond of the “‘ thin ” appearance it gives. One is inclined to put 
too much work on a plate. I like the habit nitric and nitrous acids have 
of biting more vigorously in close-worked parts. 

So far as I remember, the “ Strange Signals ” was very lightly sketched 
in drypoint on the plate before the wax was laid on. The drypoint was 
so slight! that it was intended to disappear in the subsequent working, 
being merely a guide to the proportions of the figures, as the needlework 
was done in the acid. 

The “ Sussex ” was etched in the acid also, without previous drypoint ; 
but I think the foreground figures were strengthened with drypoint at 
the last. 

Needles.—I used darning needles without any holder for those plates, 
but I now find gramophone needles, held in an engineer’s “ pricker,”’ the 
ideal points. Half a dozen or so are naturally used up in the acid on 
each plate. 

1 Mr. McBey’s memory is a little at fault here as to the “slightness” as there 


are proofs of both “Strange Signals ” and ‘“‘ Dawn ” (as well as other plates of the 
series) in drypoint alone before the etched work.—E.S.L. 


348 


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‘KLISONINOT SLI UOX AIAVHUAVNGA SI G NMO SLI dO ALTIVNOSUGd V SVH Lie ‘HORIdUALSVW 8,NZCVHA STIVOaU ALWid SIAf 
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301 


Notes By EpMuND BLAMPIED 


“Loading Seaweed.” 

Plate.—Zince. 

Ground.—The plate was prepared for me with a white ground which 
was not at all reliable. One could only rely on, say, two out of five. 

Acid.—Nitric, something like 75 per cent strength, if [remember rightly. 
There was only one very short biting. 

I had only just started and knew nothing about the technique of etching. 

Since the war I have used the ordinary dabbed dark ground, and the 
acid about half-and-half. . 

I prefer zinc for etching, but all my drypoints are on copper. 

I never work on a plate direct from nature. 

Drypoint.—I generally choose from amongst my various drawings one 
which would tend to produce a successful plate. 


I do not trace on to the copper, but copy the few important lines of the 
drawing on to the bare metal with litho-chalk. I then sketch over this 
with an ordinary sewing-needle and rub in a little black oil-colour. 

After this I generally put away the drawing and try to create a fresh 
interest, as I do not believe in copying, as, in my case, it invariably leads 
to failure. 

From the first my efforts are to improve on the sketch until I consider 
the plate finished. Directly I think this is the case I remove the ink. 
In very few cases do I touch a plate after the first proof, so the majority 
have but one state. 

If I am dissatisfied with either the composition or details, I prefer to 
start afresh upon another plate rather than to make radical alterations. 

My conception of drypoint is that it should appear spontaneous, fresh, 
crisp and without any sign of effort. 

“The Stranger” is pure drypoint, but was purposely done upon the 
back of an old plate.! 


1 This refers to the broken heavy tone obtained in printing from such a surface. 


For another similar example see my own “Cenotaph,” Pl. 22, and I believe ‘‘ The 
Pianist’ by McBey. 


352 


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Yen) 


Notes py Percy Siri 
Plates.—Copper. 
Ground.—Rhind’s solid, dabbed and smoked. 
Acid.—Nitric, a little weaker than half-and-half. 


Needles.—I use gramophone needles fixed into a wooden holder with 
sealing-wax. These points seem ideal: smooth and yet sharp. 

““ Dance of Death ” set : I made small sketches first (1 inch or so), and 
then full-sized drawings in pen-and-ink or wash. 

‘* Death Marches ” was transferred to the plate, as I particularly desired 
to obtain a certain precision and regularity to help the subject. A clear 
drawing helped me to express slow and regular movement. 

The main lines of the other six were first indicated upon the ground 
with Chinese white, but the point-work was done quite freely with the 
studies near me, together with notes of detail made in France. The pen- 
and-ink drawings were not always followed. 


‘“ Death Awed ” was etched almost entirely at one sitting. 


They were all bitten in the ordinary way in the bath. Some line-work 
was invariably added while the biting was going on, 1.e. in the bath itself. 


304 


“46 X8 


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355 


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356 


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357 


Notes spy C. R. W. NEvInson 


Drypoint.—My drypoints are invariably traced on to the surface of a 
smoked liquid ground: cut through with a ruby point and then the 
ground cleaned off. After that the ordinary working of drypoint : a well- 
polished plate and a dirty finger of oil and charcoal to study the lines. 


Etching.—I invariably use a thermometer and pese-acide.t I then 
draw a chart with all the various densities and lengths of biting that the 
density and temperature of acid have produced in other cases. 


I find this absolutely essential in aquatint. 


I rely upon the temperature of the room as much as possible (generally 
60° Fahr. in summer), taking note of a higher temperature and allowing 
for it. In winter, if necessary, I heat the bath. 


Through using this method I never remove the ground in order to see 
the result. 


Afterwards I prefer to strengthen and patch by working with trans- 
parent liquid ground. I have sometimes laid twenty of these, and find it 
much more certain than stopping-out and working in the dark, so to speak. 


Acid.—Nitric acid always. I like the bubbles as a guide: also the 
widening line. 


I never work on the spot. I can’t compose out of doors. 


Really my etching is dependent upon my peése-acide and thermometer. 
They rid me of all chance biting. The French copper-plate workers always 
use them in the shops. 


1 Hydrometer. See Chapter VI. and foot of p. 366. 


308 


IN THIS LITTLE 





7X5. 


Plate 148 


IN SUBURBIA. C. R. W. NEVINSON. 


PLATE THERE IS AN INTIMATE REALISM (IN ITS BEST SENSE) WHICH MAKES IT ONE OF THE 
ARTIST’S MOST SUCCESSFUL. 


From a proof in the collection of the author. 


359 


Notes By Mrs. Laura KNIGHT 


Plates.—Copper. 


Ground.—Rhind’s etching ball. I prefer the dabbed ground to the 
liquid. 

For line-etching I use the Dutch mordant, finishing sometimes with 
nitric; but for aquatint generally nitric alone at rather less than half- 
and-half strength, but I am rather careless in these matters. 


“The Spanish Dancer, No. 2”’ (Plate 149). 


The line-work was first bitten with nitric on a liquid ground. After 
this the plate was prepared for aquatint with a resin dust-ground sprinkled 
through several thicknesses of muslin stretched across a common sugar- 
box which had had the top and one side knocked out. This is my ordinary 
method. 


It was bitten with nitric acid at 20° on the French pése-acide,1 in three 
tones. First biting about 25 seconds. 
Second _,, 2D) 2 
Last me ,, 590 or 60 seconds in warmish weather. 


I have not been doing this work very long, but all the plates have been 
done from drawings or jottings on the spot. 


This particular one was made from a note, but I had a pretty clear idea 
of what I wanted to do. 


There was a little burnishing on the trousers of the dancer ; otherwise 
the plate was untouched. 


1 For this hydrometer see Note by John Everett, p. 366. 


360 





Etching & Aquatint. 1075 X 8%. 
Plate 149 


SPANISH DANCER. No. 2. Laura KNIGHT. 


IN THEIR DIRECTNESS ¢> SIMPLICITY—THE RIGHT UNDERSTANDING OF THE MEDIUM—THESE AQUATINTS ARE 
AMONGST THE FINEST EVER PRODUCED. 


From a proof in the collection of the author. 


361 





Etching & Aquatint. 10} X 8y%5. 
Plate 150 


BANK HOLIDAY. LAuRA KNIGHT. 
THOUGH FOUNDED UPON THE WORK OF GOYA, THESE REMARKABLE PLATES HAVE THEIR OWN PERSONALITY 
From a proof in the collection of the author. 


362 





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363 


Nores BY JOHN EVERETT 


“ Luynes ” (Plate 152). 


Plate.—Zinc. 
Acid.—Nitric, 10° (French hydrometer). 


Ground.—Resin dust, hand laid through six muslins. Fine grain show- 


ing more resin than metal. 


Room temperature, 65° Fahr. Acid, 18° Cent. 


Stopped-out with Rhind’s varnish and benzol, vernis mou, litho-chalk 


and litho-ink. 


First : high-lights stopped. 


3 secs. 


3 
3 


29 


99 


Next highest lights—sky and roofs. 


99 29 


sky and bits of distance. 


All sky except darks feathered with brush and half- 


and-half nitric. 


Shadow on distance: parts of roofs. 


All distance: parts of roofs, etc. 


Parts of middle distance. 


99 29 73) 


99 99 99 


All castle. 
Bits of foreground. 


Strongest darks. 


8 mins. 29 secs. 


and castle. 


be) 


(Continued on page 366) 


364 


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365 


‘A Grey Day in the Channel” (Plate 151). 
Plate.—Zinc. 
Acid.—Nitric 12°,1 at temperature of 18° Cent. 


Ground.—Resin dust, hand laid through three muslins. A very open 
grain showing more zinc than resin. 

With regard to temperature of the bath, I use a French Centigrade ther- 
mometer, but latterly I judge by the temperature of the room. 65° Fahr. 
gives about 18° Cent. in the bath ; 70°=20° in the bath. The pése-acide1 
I use is also French. 

Bitings :-— 

24 secs. The whole plate.2 The sun and high-lights on sea 
were stopped-out with half-and-half flake-white 
and resin, laid on with an ordinary hog-hair brush. 
This method was used throughout. 

Dee The light round the sun. 

Dales Next highest lights. 

loa Rays and highest lights on sea. 

10a All middle hight of sky and foam of mid-distance. 
PAY Most of lower sky except on right. 

20a All lower sky. 

20 See All sky. 

30 ae Distant sea. 

3 mins. Distant sea (bits). 

Onn All distant sea except on right. 

one Strongest darks. 


11 mins. 24 secs. 


1 Hydrometer. I buy these from Catinels, 150 Blvd. Montparnasse, Paris. 
Price fr. 2.75. 

2 This plate was bitten to be printed in colour, but the reproduction was not 
made from a colour proof. The use of oil colour as stopping out medium is Everett’s 
own invention.—E.S.L. 


366 


“‘ Meditation ” (Frontispiece) Etching. By the Author. 

Plate.—Copper. 

Ground.—Rhind’s, dabbed. 

Acids.—Dutch and nitric. 

With exception of a very little additional work to the modelling of the 
face and one or two of the branches above, the whole was executed in 
one biting. 

Time :— 

In Smillie’s Dutch bath (cold),5 mins. Parts of face stopped. 

,, hitric (half-and-half) bath 3 sh 5, drapery stopped. 

oe eee Ps - 24 4, Rest of figure, etc., stopped. 

Pk ee 5p A 24 ,, ‘Tree trunk stopped. 


ore rhe 2? 2) fi tN) 
Total : . 5 mins. Dutch and 15 mins. nitric. 
The last and heaviest biting completed the darks of the begging-bow], 
necklace and upper part of tree. 


The proofs are printed with Frankfurt with a little French-black and 
burnt umber, thin and a little medium oil, clean hand-wiped with retrous- 
sage. The plate was not steeled, and the most delicate modelling in the 
face unfortunately deteriorated before the end of the edition. 


367 





INDEX 


The principal reference to some of the artists referred to in the 
following Index are printed first and in black letter. 


A 
Acid— 
Acetic, 54 
Chloric, 52 
Formic, 158 
Hydrochloric (muriatic), 52, 56, 68, 
78 
Hydrochloric (for mildew), 157 
Nitric and Nitrous, 53, 56, 68 
Perchloride of Iron, 54, 56, 68 
Sulphuric (oil of vitriol), 50, 51 
Acid-fumes, 57 
on clothes, 57 
use of, 23 
Airing Prints, 154 
Altdorfer, A., Germ. etcher (1480-1538), 
72, Vil, 239 
Alum, 50, 51, 142 
Aluminium, 17 
Amber, 36 
Ammonia, 34, 57 
Ammonium Chloride, 50, 51 
Amsterdam Cabinet, Master 
See Hausbuch 
Aquatint, 18, 118 
invention of, 246 
sand-grain, 119 
*“ Art of Graveing and Etching,” 1662 
(Faithorne), 176 
Art-School, 19. See also College 
es a danger of, 21 
Asphaltum (bitumen), 35-8, 44, 118 
Aylesford, Earl of, etcher (1751-1812), 
197 


of the. 


B 
Bacher, Otto, 19th cent., Amer. etcher, 
109 


Baryta white, 110, 124 

Bauer, M. A. J., Dutch etcher (1867-), 
314, 143, 163, 221, 232, 239, 310, 
315-16, 317, 326-7 

Bega, C., Dutch etcher (1620-1664), 186, 
181, 224, 232, 239 

Begue, J. le, 15th cent., writer, 50, 165, 
205 


2A 








Benson, F., Amer. etcher (1862- ), 324, 
163, 239, 310, 328-30 
Biting— 
difference between copper and zinc, 
29 
foul-, 29, 53 
methods of, 66 
Bitumen, 44. See also Asphaltum, 44 
Black, Frankfurt, 61, 85 
» French (Bouju), 61, 85 
Blake, Robert, 111 
» W., Eng. etcher (1757-1827), 270, 
18, 96, 111, 268-9, 276 
Blampied, E., Eng. (Jersey) etcher 
1886— ), 323, 53, 163, 218, 232, 310, 
351-3 
Blankets, printing, 19, 92 
Bleaching, danger of, 158 
aA -powder (chloride of lime), 137, 
157 
Bléry, E. (Meryon’s teacher), 274 
Bol, F., Dutch etcher (1616-80), 186, 239 
Bone, Muirhead, Scots etcher (1876- ), 
312, 127, 144, 168, 188, 288, 232, 
239, 266, 276, 310, 313, 331-3 
Bonington, R. P., Eng. etcher (1801- 
1828), 226 
Bordering-wax, 66 
Bosse, A., 17th cent., French writer and 
etcher, 35, 51, 172, 
Bottles (acid), 55 
Bracquemond, F., Fr. etcher (1833-1919), 
281, 232, 239, 283 
Brangwyn, F., R.A., Eng. etcher (1867-), 
320, 36, 45, 110, 232-9, 310, 312, 
345-7 
Brass, 17 
Brockhurst, G. L., 20th cent., Eng. 
etcher, 323 
Brouet, A., 20th cent., Fr. etcher, 323 
Browne, Alex., 17th cent., writer, 37 
Brydall, R., 19th cent., writer, 196 
Buffing machine, 32 
Burin (graver), 35, 45, 48 
Burnett, J., 19th cent., Scots engraver, 
263 
Burnisher, 23, 48 


369 


370 


Burnt-oil. See Oils. 
Burr, definition of, 23 
», lines showing, 133 


C 
Callipers, 106 
Callot, J., Fr. etcher (1592-1635), 172-7, 
35, 51, 186, 192, 239, 272 
Cameron, Sir D. Y., R.A., Scots etcher 
(1865— ), 312, 144, 163, 232, 239, 
276, 294, 310, 336-8 
Canaletto (G. A. Canale), It. etcher 
(1697-1768), 188, 239 
Canvas, printing, 89 
Carbon, 42 
Castiglione, Ital. etcher (1616-70), 186, 
2o2 7200 
Caustic soda, 97 
Cerus (ceruse, white lead), 36 
» Venice, 37 
Charcoal, 239 
Chart of etchers, 239 
China clay in paper, 140 
Chinese paper, 141 
» white, 82 
Chloric acid, 52 
Chloride of lime, 157 
¢ of mercury, 157 
Chlorine, 29, 52, 58, 137, 157 
Chlorinated soda, 157 
Church, Prof. A. H., chemist, 111, 139, 
143 
Claude Gellée (de Lorain), (1600-82), 
Fr. etcher, 176, 178, 196, 239, 
246, 281 
Clausen, G., R.A., Eng. etcher (1852-_), 
320, 239, 281, 310, 334-5 
“Cleaning and Restoration of Museum 
Exhibits, The ’’ (Scott), 156 
Cleaning the plate, 33 
Clerk of Eldin, Scots etcher (1728-1812), 
196, 194-5, 198-9, 239 
Cochin, 18th cent., Fr. writer, 35, 51 
College of Art, Edinburgh, 42, 64 
ny » Royal, 34 
Colour-etchings, 96 
Colour of ink, 95, 140 
Copper, 17 
facing, 30 
plates, 26 | 
selling old, 33 
Cornelissen and Sons, 61 
Corot, J. B. C., Fr. painter (1796-1875), 
286 
Cotman, J. 8., Eng. etcher (1782-1842), 
259, 239, 260 


INDEX 


Counter-proofs, 97 
Creases in printing, 93 
», removal of, 159 
Crevé, 106 
Crocus powder, 31, 59 
Crome, J. (Old), Eng. etcher (1768-1821), 
255, 232, 239, 258 
Crompton, Messrs, 143 
Cubism, 310 
Cutting plates, 28 


D 


Dabber, grounding, 39 
» inking, 88 
Damping paper, 145 
Daumier, Honoré, 314 
‘“* De la maniére de graver a l’eau forte ”’ 
(Bosse), 35, 51 
Delatre, 19th cent., Fr. printer, 87, 278, 
281, 294, 303 
Delteil, Loys, 20th cent., Fr. critic, 188, 
242 et seq. 
Detmold, The brothers (M, 1883-1908), 
(E. 1883-— ), Eng. etchers, 322 
Diamond-points, 18 
Dishes (acid, etc.), 56 
Dodgson, C., C.B.E., 19th-20th cent., 
Eng. critic. Keeper of the Prints, 
British Museum, 263, 274, 276, 
278, 317 
Drawing on the plate, 23, 80 
Drypoint, 127 
comparison between etching and, 
23 
definition of, 18 
lines magnified, 132 
tools for, 23, 46 
du Jardin, K. See Jardin. 
Diirer, A., Germ. etcher (1471-1528), 
201, 23, 50, 76, 168, 239 
Dust-box, aquatint, 118 
Dutch mordant, 52, 68 
» invention of, 52, 53 
Dyce, W. Scots etcher (1806-1864), 266, 
239, 255, 267 


E 


East, Sir A., R.A., 20th cent., Eng. etcher, 
96 
Eau de départ, 51 
»» forte. See Acid. 
Echoppe (point), 45, 175, 205, 207 
Engravers, Line, 17 


INDEX 


Essentials for Etching, 23 
‘‘Etchers and Etching’ (Pennell), 38, 
155, 274, 290 
Etchers’ own notes, 325 
** Etching and Etchers ’’ (Hamerton), 36, 
44, 163, 274, 281 
Etching, comparison between drypoint 
and, 23 
definition of, 17 
-room, plan of, 63 
** Etchings ’’ (Koehler), 165 
** Etchings,” 1911 (Wedmore), 179, 252, 
272, 274, 278 
““Etchings of Charles Meryon, The,” 
1921 (Dodgson), 274, 276, 278 
Etchings, Colour-, 96 
Ether, 42, 44 
Everett, J., 20th cent., Eng. etcher, 322, 
119, 124, 126, 363-6 


F 


Faithorne, W., 17th cent., Eng. writer, 
176, 186, 192 

Feather, use of the, 52 

Felt pads, 32 

File, 27 

Filing edges, 28 

Flake (lead) white, 109, 124 

Flattening proofs, 147 

Folds, printing, 93 

» removal of, 159 

Forain, J. L., Fr. etcher (1852-), 314, 
163, 221, 232, 239, 310, 317, 318- 
19, 322. 

Formalin, 158 

Foul-biting, 29, 53 

Frames, danger of sealed, 158 

Framing prints, 154 

Fronting, 31 

Fumes (acid), antidotes, 58 


G 


Gainsborough, T., Eng. etcher (1727- 
1788), 197, 200, 239 

Gamboge (as a gum), 126 

Geddes, A., A.R.A., Scots etcher (1783- 
1844), 259, 136, 161, 228, 232, 
239, 255, 261-5 

Gelatine (Size), 142 

Gellée. See Claude. 

Giles, W., 20th cent., Eng. relief-etcher, 96 

Girtin, T., early 19th cent., Eng. etcher, 
266 


371 


Goulding, F., 19th cent., Eng. printer, 92 
Goya, F. de., Span. etcher (1746-1828), 
242-54, 120, 161, 188, 232, 239 
Graf, Urs, Swiss etcher (c. 1485-1529), 
168, 169, 239 
Graver. See Burin. 
Grease on proofs (removal of), 159 
Green, Messrs. (paper makers), 141 
Griggs, F., A.R.A., Eng. etcher (1876-), 
141, 323, 239 
Ground, laying the, 39 
re-grounding, 99 
smoking the, 42 
soft (vernis mou), 113 
use of, 23 
Grounds, Aquatint— 
Dust (resin, etc.), 118 
Sand-grain, 119 
Spirit, 119 
Stapart’s, 119 
Ground, Etching— 
Callot’s, 35 
Hamerton’s, 42 
liquid, 41 
McBey’s, 
Moran’s, 37 
Paste, 40 
Rembrandt’s and Hollar’s, 36 
Rhind’s, 38 
Roberson’s, 42 
Sand’s, 328 
Transparent, 38 
Weber’s, 38 
White, 37, 39 
Grounding-roller, 40 
Guillotine, 28 


H 


“Haden, Sir F. Seymour, Eng. etcher 


(1818-1910), 288-98, 29, 53, 69, 
78, 82, 96, 163, 197, 232, 239, 266, 
297, 322 

Hall and Dunbar, Messrs., 43, 60 

Hamerton, P. G., 19th cent., Eng. writer 
and critic, 36, 38, 39, 53, 163, 
274, 281, 288, 290, 292 

Hamerton’s liquid ground, 42 

Hamerton’s stopping-out varnish, 44 

Hammer, 107 

Hammering-up (repoussage), 106 

Hand-made papers, 138 

Hand-rest, 114 

Hanging prints, 155 

Hardie, Martin, 20th cent., Scots etcher 
and critic. Keeper of the Prints, 
Victoria and Albert Museum, 294 


372 


Harrington, Dr. H. Nazeby (author of 
Haden Catalogue, etc.), 292 
Hausbuch, Master of the, Germ. dry- 
point engraver (c. 1480), 165, 
166, 239 

Heater, electric, 39, 64 

gas, 64 

Hind, Prof. A. M., 119, 165, 168, 176, 188, 
232, 240, 249, 317 

Hirschvogel, A., Germ. etcher (1503-— 
1553), 172, 173, 239 

‘“‘ History and Art of Engraving,” 18th 
cent., 30, 37, 51 

‘“* History of Art in Scotland ”’ (Brydall), 
196 

“History of Engraving and Etching, 
A short” (Hind), 119, 165, 176, 
188, 249, 317 

Hogarth, W., Eng. etcher (1697-1764), 
188, 189, 239 

Hole, W., R.S.A., 19th—20th cent., Scots 
etcher, 161 

Hollar, W., Bohemian etcher (1607-77), 
186, 36, 52, 180, 196, 239 

Hollar’s ground, 36 

Hopfer Daniel, Germ. etcher (14 ?-1536), 
165, 167, 239 

Hosho paper, 78, 141, 149 

Hughes and Kimber, Messrs., 61 

Hydrochloric acid, 50 

Hydrochloric acid (Dutch mordant), 52, 
56, 68, 78 

Hydrochloric acid, for mildew, 157 

Hydrogen peroxide, 159 

Hydrometer (pése-acide), 54 

Hydros (sod. hydrosulphite), 157 


India paper, 141 

Ink (copper plate), 85 
burnt-oils for, 61, 87 
colour of, 95 
dry colours, 61, 85 
grinding, 86 
in tubes, 85 
removing dried, 97 
roller, 64, 88 
slab, 64 
use of, 23 

Intaglio, 18 

Tron, 17, 18 

egg Mordant for, 50 
perchloride, 54, 56, 68, 84 

; sulphate, 50 


INDEX 


J 
Jacque, Ch., Fr. etcher (1813-94), 281, 


136, 230, 9232 2o0 pe cS2 ees. 
295-6 

Jacquemart, J., Fr. etcher (1837-80), 
232, 239 


Japan varnish, 44 
Japanese papers— 
damping, 145 
flattening, 149 
Hosho, 78, 141, 149 
Mino, Torinoko, 141-4 
Rembrandt’s use of, 144 
Sizing, 142 
Jardin, K. du, Dutch etcher (1622-78), 
186, 182, 232, 239, 272 
John, A. E., A.R.A., Eng. etcher (1879-), 
820, 232, 239, 310, 342-4 
Jongkind, Dutch etcher (1819-91), 232 


K 


Keene, Chas., Eng. etcher (1823-91), 
270, 239, 271 

Kimber, W. C., 30, 39, 46, 60 

Knight Laura (Mrs.), 20th cent., Eng. 
etcher, 822, 119, 239, 254, 360-2 

Koehler, S. R., 19th cent., Amer. writer, 
19, 30, 165 


L 


La Fleche, fils, 61 

Laid and wove papers, 138 

Lalanne, M., 19th cent., Fr. 
writer, 19, 30, 37, 124 

Larkins, W., 20th cent., Eng. etcher, 323 

Laying down prints, 154 

Lead, white (flake), 109, 124 

as »  (ceerus), 36 

Le Begue, J., 15th cent., writer, 50, 165, 
205 

Le Clerc, 17th—l8th cent., writer, 35, 66 

Legros, A., Fr. etcher (1830-1911), 284, 
228,232,230, 206,201, ole 

Lepére, A., Fr. etcher (1849-1918), 317 

Le Prince, J. B., 18th cent., inventor of 
aquatint (?), 246 

Leyden van. See Lucas. 

Lievens, J., Dutch etcher (1607-74), 
186, 239 

Light-sereen, 63 

Lighting, 64 

- artificial, 65 


etcher and 


INDEX 


Lime chloride (bleaching-powder), 157-8 
Lines, magnified drypoint, 132 
», Nitric and Dutch in section, 56 

Linseed oil. See Oils. 

List of materials, 59 

Lithographic press, 19, 96 

Lorain de. See Claude 

Lucas van Leyden, Dutch etcher (1494— 
1533), 205, 168, 239 

Lupton, T., early 19th cent., engraver, 
135 


M 


Maclaughlan, D.S8., 20th cent., Canadian- 
born etcher, 324 

Madness in art, 274 

Mangle, 19 

Manning, W., 20th cent., Eng. etcher, 323 

Marples, G., Eng. etcher (1869-_), 323 

Mastic (gum), 35-38, 44 

Master of 1515, Germ. (?) etcher in Italy, 
170, 239 

Master of the Hausbuch, or Master of the 
Amsterdam Cabinet (c. 1480), 165, 
166, 239 

Materials, where to obtain, 59 

Mazzuoli, F. See Parmigiano. 

McBey, J., Scots etcher (1883-), 322, 
67, 69, 163, 232, 239, 276, 310, 
348-50 

Meldolla, 16th cent., Ital. etcher, 172, 
239 

Menpes, M., 19th—20th cent., Australian 
etcher, 52 

Merrifield (Mrs.), 19th cent., writer, 50 

Meryon, Chas., Fr. etcher (1821-68), 
272-81, 87, 140, 163, 176, 186, 
196, 239, 292, 300, 308, 312 

Metals, 17 

Mezzotint, 18, 134 

a tools, 135 

Mildew, 156 

Millet, J. F., Fr. etcher (1814-75), 286, 
224, 281 

Mino paper, 141 

Mistakes, remedies for, 21, 99 

Moran’s ground, 37 

Mordants. See also Acid. 50 

sp comparative action of, 68 

Mounting, 150 

Mounts, proportions of, 151-3 

Mulberry paper, 141 

Muller (for ink), 64 

Muriatic acid. See Hydrochloric. 

Muslins, 89 


373 
N 

Naiwynx, H., Dutch etcher (1624-54), 
Nene Ses Points. 


Negative etching, 110 

Nevinson, C. R. W. Eng. etcher(1889-— ), 
3238, 357-9 

Nicolson, J. W., 20th cent., Eng. etcher, 
323 

Niello, 168 

Nitric, Nitrous acids, 53, 56, 68, '70 

Nixon, J., 20th cent. Eng. etcher, 323 

Nooms, R. See Zeeman. 

Numbering editions, 149 

Nutro 7 


O 


Oil of Vitriol (Sulphuric acid), 50, 51 
Oil rubber, 32 
Oils, burnt, 61, 85, 87 
linseed, 37, 44 
nut, 37 
olive, sperm, 31 
spike (lavender), 40 
‘* Originality ” in art, 297 
Osborne, M., A.R.A., Eng. etcher (1880- ), 
323 
Ostade. See Van Ostade. 
Overalls, 57 


P 


Painter-Etchers, Royal Society of 155 
Palmer, 8., Eng. etcher (1805-81), 270 
Paper, blotting and plate, 94, 145 
colour of, 140 
damping, 145 
dampness of, 95 
fibre of, 137 
hand and machine made, 138 
old, reason for use of, 139 
Oriental, 27, 141 
Rembrandt and Japanese, 144 
sizing, 142 
tinting, 140 
water-leaf and soft-sized, 139 
water-marks in, 138, 140 
wove and laid, 138 
Parmigiano (Mazzuoli), Ital. etcher (1503— 
1540), 172, 174, 239 
Pencil work on the plate, 80 
Pen method of etching, 124 
Pennell, J., Amer. etcher and writer 
(1860-— ), 820, 38, 42, 67, 88, 120, 
136, 155, 239, 274, 290, 303 


374 


Penrose, Messrs., 60 
Perchloride of Iron. See Acid. 
Peter, R. C., 20th cent., Eng. mezzo- 
tinter, 136 
Photogravure, 18 
Picasso, Pablo, 20th cent., 
etcher, 323 
Piranesi, G., Ital. etcher (1720-78), 
188, 45, 190, 239 
Pitch, black, Burgundy, common, Greek, 
Planing-out, 30, 105 
Plaster-of-Paris, 19 
Plates, cleaning, 33 
copper, 26 
cutting, 28 
iron, 17 
pewter and other metals, 17 
polishing, 30 
steel-facing, 18, 30 
zinc, 29 
Points, diamond and ruby, 18, 47 
échoppe, 45 
etching, 45 
steel drypoints, 18, 46 
use of, 23 
Polish, plate, 32 
Polishes, powder, 31 
Polishing plates, 30 
** Portfolio’ magazine, ed., Hamerton, 
290 
Potassium chlorate, 52, 53 
Potter, P., Dutch etcher (1625-54), 186, 
183, 232, 239 
Powder colours (inks), 61, 85 
Practice, need for, 20 
Press, copper-plate (roller), 19, 25, 91, 97 
copying (for flattening), 145, 148 
lithographic, 19, 96 
use of, 23 
Pressure in drawing, 99 
in flattening, 148 
regulation of, in printing, 93 
Printing, 18, 85 
canvas, 89 
folds, 159 
inks. See ‘* Ink.” 
muslins, 89 
oils. See ‘* Oils, burnt.”’ 
papers. See “* Paper.” 
wiping the plate, 89 
Proofs, counter, 97 
cut, 95 
pulling, 94 
Pumice-powder, 31 
Putty, 31 
Pyridine, 159 


Span.-Fr. 


INDEX 


Q 
Qualifications for etching, 20 


R 


Raeburn, Sir H., R.A., Scots painter, 259 

Re-biting old lines, 107 

Re-grounding with dabber, 99 

- » roller, 108 

Relief plates, 18, 96, 111 

Rembrandt van Rijn, Dutch etcher 
(1606-69), 208-39, 20, 25, 36, 
45, 144, 162, 172, 176, 179, 186, 
196, 201, 205, 252, 259, 278, 281, 
300, 303, 314, 322 

chart showing influence of, 239 
table showing influence of, 232 

Repoussage, 106 

Resin (rosin of Tyre), 36, 37 

Restoring prints, 156 

Re-surfacing plates, 32 

Retroussage (dragging), 90 

Reversing designs, 80 

Rhind, W. Y., chemist, 60 

Rhind’s grounds, 38, 41 

Rocker (mezzo), 135 

Roberson’s liquid ground, 42 

Robins, W. P., Eng. etcher and writer 
(1882— ), 323, 119 

Roller grounding, 40 

» inking, 64, 88 

Rops, F., Belgian etcher (1833-98), 286 

Rosenburg, L., 20th cent., Amer. etcher, 
324 

Rotten-stone, 31 

Rouge, 31 

Roulettes, 49, 135 

Rubber gloves, 57 

Ruby point. See “* Points.” 

Runciman, A., Scots etcher (1736-85), 
192 

Runciman, John, Scots etcher (1744—- 
1768), 192, 193, 239 

Rushbury, H., Eng. etcher (1889- ), 323 

Ruysdael, J., Dutch etcher (c. 1628-— 
1682), 186, 232, 239 


S 
Salaman, M. C., 19th—20th cent., critic, 
270 
Salmon, 19th cent., Fr. printer, 303 


Salt and Ammonium chloride, 51 
»» 5, Sulphuric acid, 50 


INDEX 


Salt and Vinegar (acteic acid), 34, 51, 55 
Saltpetre (nitre, pot. nitrate), 50, 51 
oF -acid (nitric), 51, 326 
Sandby, P., 18th cent., Eng. etcher, 196 
Sand-grain aquatint, 119 
Schiavone, A, 172. See Meldolla 
Schéngauer, 15th-16th cent., Swiss en- 
graver, 165, 201 
Schools of Art, 19. See also College 
Pi danger of, 21 
Seott, Dr. Alex., F.R.S., 156-9 
Scraper, 23, 47 
how to use, 48 
Mezzo-, 135 
Screen (light), 63 
Seghers, H., Dutch etcher (1590-1645), 
172, 239 
Sheet copper and zinc, 26 
Shellac varnishes, 43, 44 
“Short History of Engraving and Etch- 
ing, A,’’ 1908 (Hind), 119, 165, 
176, 187 
Short, Sir F., R.A., Eng. etcher (1857— ), 
134, 34, 37, 239, 255, 339-41 
Size in paper, 138 
Sizing paper, 142 
Smillie’s (Dutch) bath, 52 
Smith, Percy, 20th cent., Eng. etcher, 
322, 163, 239, 249, 354-6 
Smoking the ground, 42 
Snakestone (Water of Ayr), 30 
Soda chlorinated, 157 
Sodium carbonate, 58 
chloride (salt), 34, 50, 51, 55 
hydrosulphite, 157 
Soft-ground (making), 113 
.F etching, 18, 35, 113 
Soft-sized paper, 139 
Spike oil of lavender, 40 
Spirit ground (aquatint), 119 
Spirit solvents— 
benzol, benzoline, 33, 44 
chloroform, 41 
ether, 41, 42, 44 
methylated, 33, 43, 44 
petrol, 33 
turpentine, 33, 44 
Stapart’s ground, 119 
Starch (wheat), 139 
Starrett Co. (points), 46, 61 


Steel, 17 
facing, 18, 30 
points. See “ Points.” 


Steinlen, A., Fr. etcher (1859-1923), 239, 
317 


Stopping-out varnishes, 43 
Stout, for tinting paper, 140 


375 


Strang, W., R.A., Scots etcher (1859- 
1921), 312, 46, 127, 224, 232, 239, 
309, 311 

Stretching proofs, 153 

Sulphuric acid, 50, 51 


db 

Tallow, 44 

Tapers (fcr smoking), 42 

Tarnish, removal of, 34 

Thymol, 158 

Tiepolo, G. B., Ital. etcher (1696-1770), 
188, 232, 239, 242 

Tiepolo, G. D., Ital. etcher (1727-1804), 
188, 191, 232, 239, 242 

Tools, list of, 59 

Torinoko paper, 141 

“Touch ”’ in etching and drypoint, 24 

** Tower-brand ”’ varnish, 43 

Tracing, 80 

es -paper screen, 63 

‘““Traicté des manicres de 
(Bosse), 51 

Transferring, 109 

Trays for acid, etc., 56 

Turner, J. W. M., R.A., Eng. etcher 
(1775-1851), 255, 134, 161, 239, 
256-7 


graver ”’ 


U 


Umber, powder colour for ink, 61, 85, 124 

Urs Graf, Swiss etcher (c. 1485-1529), 
168, 169, 239 

Urushibara, Y., 20th cent., Jap. wood 
engraver, 143 


V 


Van de Velde. See Velde. 

Van dyck, Sir A., Flemish etcher (1599- 
1641), 240, 179, 208, 239, 259, 281 

Van Ostade, Dutch etcher (1610-85), 
186, 218, 232, 239 

Varnishes, stopping-out, 43 

Velarium for picture galleries, 1553 

Velde, A. van de, Dutch etcher (1635- 
1672), 186, 187, 232, 239 

Vellum, Japanese (paper), 143 

» skin, 144 

Verdigris, 51 

Vernis mou (soft-ground), 35, 113 

Vice, hand, 43 

» screw (for table), 28 
Vinegar (acetic acid), 34, 51, 55 
Vitriol, oil of (sulphuric acid), 50, 51 


376 
Ww 


Water-leaf papers, 139 

Water-marks, 138, 140 

‘** Water of Ayr’”’ stone, 30 

Wax, bordering, 66 

», White, 35, 36, 37, 38, 44 

Weber and Co., 60 

Weber's ground, 38 

Wedmore, Sir F., 19th-20th cent., critic 
and writer, 179, 186, 225, 252, 272, 
274, 278, 284 

Wheatley, J., Eng. etcher (1892-  ), 323 

Whistler, J. A. McNeill, Amer. etcher 
(1834-1903), 292-807, 43, 45, 52, 
67, 76, 82, 87, 91, 106, 109, 110, 
140, 155, 162, 163, 213, 230, 232, 
239, 266, 274, 276, 278, 281, 284, 
288, 308, 310, 314, 320, 322 

White baryta, 110, 124 


The Mayflower Press, Plymouth. 
1925 





INDEX 


White Chinese, 82 
flake, 109, 124 
Whitening, 33, 140 
Whaydale, H., 20th cent., Eng. etcher, 323 
Wilkie, Sir D., Scots etcher (1785-1841), 
266, 239, 255 
Winston and Sons, 61 
Wiping the plate, 89 


Z 


Zeeman (R. Nooms), Dutch etcher (1623- 
1663), 186, 176, 184, 185, 196, 239, 
272 

Zine, 17 

9» plates, 29 

Zinco, 18 

Zorn, A., Swedish etcher (1860-1921), 
317, 163, 232, 239, 321 


William Brendon & Son, Ltd. 








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